What does it mean to say that something causes 16% of cancers? | Not Exactly Rocket Science | Discover Magazine

What does it mean to say that something causes 16% of cancers? | Not Exactly Rocket Science | Discover Magazine

Higher US expenditures on cancer patients do not result in improved mortality. : denialism blog

Higher US expenditures on cancer patients do not result in improved mortality. : denialism blog

                                    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Blogger: Hoofnagle has a MD and PhD in physiology from the University of Virginia, and is now a general surgery resident. His interest in denialism concerns the use of denialist tactics to confuse public understanding of scientific knowledge.

                               ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Higher US expenditures on cancer patients do not result in improved mortality.

" But you'd never know that reading AEI's highly dubious contribution to the literature in this week's Health Affairs (lay Reuters article here). Consistent with their free-market solves everything and can do no wrong (cover ears and yell "nananananananana") attitude towards the broken US healthcare system, they have managed to contaminate the literature with a paper that suggests our higher expenditures on cancer are generating significant returns in patient survival. Except that it doesn't show this, and to her great credit, Reuter's Sharon Begley nails it:........

"Experts shown an advance copy of the paper by Reuters argued that the tricky statistics of cancer outcomes tripped up the authors.
"This study is pure folly," said biostatistician Dr. Don Berry of MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. "It's completely misguided and it's dangerous. Not only are the authors' analyses flawed but their conclusions are also wrong."

".... It's been a topic of debate among medical professions and discussed extensively by other medical bloggers like Ora.....(Blogger's Note: see prior postings)

open access: Cancer in Australia: Actual incidence and mortality data from 1982 to 2007 and projections to 2010 - 2011 - Asia-Pacific Journal of Clinical Oncology - Wiley Online Library

Cancer in Australia: Actual incidence and mortality data from 1982 to 2007 and projections to 2010 - 2011 - Asia-Pacific Journal of Clinical Oncology

 Table 1.  The 10 most commonly diagnosed cancers by sex, Australia, 2007 

 Ovary    1,266

Table 4.  The 10 most common causes of death from cancer by sex, Australia, 2007 

Ovary      848


About this Journal:
The Asia-Pacific Journal of Clinical Oncology is a multidisciplinary journal of oncology that aims to be a forum for facilitating collaboration and exchanging information on what is happening in different countries of the Asia Pacific region in relation to cancer treatment and care. The Journal publishes pre-clinical studies, translational research, clinical trials and epidemiological studies, describing new findings of clinical significance. Clinical studies, particularly prospectively designed clinical trials, are encouraged.

Cancer - NPCR - USCS - View Data Online - cancer stats U.S.

Note: ovarian cancer - 8th in incidence rate; 5th in death rate

Cancer Statistics, 2010 -- U.S.

FIGURE 5 Annual Age-Adjusted Cancer Death Rates* Among Females for Selected Cancers, United States, 1930 to 2006.