Topic: pancreatic cancer

Cancer Screening: Is It Better Not To Know?

Cancer Screening: Is It Better Not To Know?

In yesterday’s T Magazine, authors Shannon Brownlee and Jeanne Lenzer posed an interesting question about prostate cancer screening: Can cancer ever be ignored? Their question isn’t theoretical; it’s a serious debate within the medical community over the effectiveness of prostate-specific antigen (P.S.A.) screening, a simple blood test that many middle-aged men receive regularly to screen for prostate cancer. While some believe that the easy, cheap means to early detection is a win-win situation, many argue that, given the complications caused by early detection and treatment—which include incontinence, impotence and, at worst, death—the answer to the question is simply: It would be better not to know.

Sorry! This poll is now closed.

More »

Aretha Franklin’s Pancreatic Cancer Is An Obesity Wake-Up Call

Aretha Franklin's Pancreatic Cancer Is An Obesity Wake-Up Call

News about Aretha Franklin’s pancreatic cancer caused pangs of anguish for all of us who grew up encouraged to feel like a natural woman (and belt out songs that we were totally unfit to sing) thanks to the Queen of Soul. But if we’re honest, we’ve been feeling pangs over Aretha for quite some time: Her voice hasn’t changed, but her body sure has; an all-too visible indication not of aging or of diminishing looks, but of poor health. No matter how impressive her performances, year after year, we’ve caught ourselves gasping over her ballooning weight, wondering when it would pop and give way to serious medical issues (if it wasn’t already).

We know that many people are uncomfortable with the correlation between obesity and disease. “But pancreatic cancer killed Patrick Swayze, and he wasn’t fat!” you’ll argue. It’s true that not everyone who gets cancer is overweight, and not everyone who’s overweight gets cancer. But selective ignorance of medical advice and studies doesn’t make them go away: More »