Ah, a perfect question for comparative effectiveness research.

Surgeon Jeffrey Parks takes a look at a study looking at breast MRIs during the pre-operative workup of patients with breast cancer.

Essentially, surgical outcomes were not improved, and worse, “leads to a higher rate of unnecessary mastectomy, and is extremely expensive (about $1600 a pop, out of pocket).”

Although there are specific cases where a breast Read more »

Prostate cancer screening is about to get a whole lot cloudier.

Published this morning in the NEJM, the results of the study by the National Cancer Institute showed that, for men who were screened with both a PSA and digital rectal exam, there was no difference when compared to men who received “usual care.”

The results confirm the suspicions that many physicians already had, namely, that screening for prostate cancer does not Read more »

GP newspaper broke the story about GP concerns a year ago, warning that the guidance was forcing GPs in England to refer patients unnecessarily on to secondary care.

Fergus Macbeth, NICE’s director of the centre for clinical practice, said: ‘NICE has become aware of concerns, particularly from GPs, about some of the recommendations in the guidance around GP involvement in minor surgery and how it is being interpreted and implemented Read more »

Doctors should realize the stress that patients undergo while waiting for test results.

Surgeon Jeffrey Parks discusses a recent study examining the issue, showing that a woman’s “stress hormone levels were just as high during the waiting period as levels determined in women who were told the biopsy was positive for cancer.”

A needle breast biopsy should not take longer than two days for a result, although it make take longer Read more »

Jade Goody is 27-year old British reality TV star who is dying from cervical cancer.

As part of an ongoing reality show, her last days will be filmed and broadcast.

In this day and age of the Pap smear, cervical cancer should be all but eradicated. And Ms. Goody did have Pap smears. Several, in fact. However, as gynecologist Margaret Polaneczky observes, she ignored letters to come in for followup and treatment.

Read more »

Men of any age can present with the symptoms of low testosterone – including erectile dysfunction, fatigue, difficulty concentrating, decreased muscle mass and bone density. Is it safe to treat these symptoms with testosterone replacement therapy?

There are several ways to treat men with low testosterone: the most common are gels, patches, and injections. These treatments are effective for relieving symptoms, and are generally safe.
Read more »

According to a recent study looking at the Medicare population, the answer appears to be yes.

MedPage Today reports a study showing that elderly white patients had colon cancer screening rates ranging from 39 to 47 percent, compared to 29 to 38 percent in blacks and 23 to 33 percent in Hispanics.

First off, all those rates are dismally low. There should be no reason that colon cancer screening rates are below 50 percent.
Read more »

Medicare recently expanded their coverage for off-label use of cancer drugs.

These medications are among the most expensive, and especially in cases of end-stage treatment, there may not be a lot of evidence supporting their use.

For the most part, oncologists and patients (via the WSJ Health Blog) have hailed the decision, but others say that the increased ability to give off-label drugs “let physicians avoid hard discussions Read more »

Ms Primarolo said: ‘I would urge patients to make an appointment with their GP this week to talk about applying for their exemption certificate.’

An Avon LMC statement reads: ‘While supporting the much-needed move to relieve the financial burden of charges from these patients, GPs have been given no information from Ms Primarolo’s department about how they should implement the planned change.

‘There Read more »

by Jenni Snook

My only hope is that you find the article below very informative as the best complete guide to pancreatic cancer available anywhere online.

Just in case you’re not aware, it’s important to mention that pancreatic cancer is a cancer of the pancreas, which is a vital organ gland that is responsible releasing both the insulin and the digestive juices. The cancer normally takes the form of a malignant tumour Read more »