Comments on: The US has the highest cancer survival rates http://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2007/08/us-has-highest-cancer-survival-rates.html Tue, 14 Feb 2012 23:00:00 +0000 hourly 1 By: Anonymoushttp://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2007/08/us-has-highest-cancer-survival-rates.html#comment-79352 Anonymous Tue, 21 Aug 2007 20:10:00 +0000 http://clients.emmense.com/kevinmd/2007/08/the-us-has-the-highest-cancer-survival-rates.html#comment-79352 ...of those people <i>diagnosed</i>. The study didn't evaluate how good the US is at <i>catching</i> cancer. Countries that are better at diagnosing cancer in the general population might suffer in the stats because of this. …of those people diagnosed. The study didn’t evaluate how good the US is at catching cancer. Countries that are better at diagnosing cancer in the general population might suffer in the stats because of this.

]]> By: Andrewhttp://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2007/08/us-has-highest-cancer-survival-rates.html#comment-79349 Andrew Tue, 21 Aug 2007 18:54:00 +0000 http://clients.emmense.com/kevinmd/2007/08/the-us-has-the-highest-cancer-survival-rates.html#comment-79349 Note that the study is based on length of survival AFTER DIAGNOSIS. The study did not look at the relative effectiveness of treatment in different countries.<br/><br/>Without knowing the effect of lead-time bias on the results, it's impossible to say whether the US system is performing better or worse... or whether the final standings may simply reflect diagnosing cancers earlier... including some cancers that would never have become life-threatening.<br/><br/>And I'd question your assertion that most news stories about medicine and health care are negative. Content analyses of news reports actually find that most stories are positive... celebrating findings of medical research. For example, take a look at the work by James Pribble, MD et al. at the Univ. of Michigan. Note that the study is based on length of survival AFTER DIAGNOSIS. The study did not look at the relative effectiveness of treatment in different countries.

Without knowing the effect of lead-time bias on the results, it’s impossible to say whether the US system is performing better or worse… or whether the final standings may simply reflect diagnosing cancers earlier… including some cancers that would never have become life-threatening.

And I’d question your assertion that most news stories about medicine and health care are negative. Content analyses of news reports actually find that most stories are positive… celebrating findings of medical research. For example, take a look at the work by James Pribble, MD et al. at the Univ. of Michigan.

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