Medicines That Deter Cancer Not Taken
Fascinating article about the politics, lifestyle, and science of cancer prevention
We have today two drugs that are proven to cut the risk of prostate cancer and two drugs that are proven to cut the risk of breast cancer. None of these drugs have had much success with the public and few physicians prescribe them to help avoid cancer. The government and drug manufacturers have spent millions to development them. People prefer vitamins and supplements, although the controlled studies don’t support the belief that they help, and in some instances they actually make things worse.
Many Americans do not think twice about taking medicines to prevent heart disease and stroke. But cancer is different. Much of what Americans do in the name of warding off cancer has not been shown to matter, and some things are actually harmful. Yet the few medicines proved to deter cancer are widely ignored.
Take prostate cancer, the second-most commonly diagnosed cancer in the United States, surpassed only by easily treated skin cancers. More than 192,000 cases of it will be diagnosed this year, and more than 27,000 men will die from it.
And, it turns out, there is a way to prevent many cases of prostate cancer. A large and rigorous study found that a generic drug, finasteride, costing about $2 a day, could prevent as many as 50,000 cases each year. Another study found that finasteride’s close cousin, dutasteride, about $3.50 a day, has the same effect.
Nevertheless, researchers say, the drugs that work are largely ignored. And supplements that have been shown to be not just ineffective but possibly harmful are taken by men hoping to protect themselves from prostate cancer.
Lord what fools we mortals be.
- Aggie