Surgery - 1265082

The quote you reference seems to be based on a single study: http://journals.lww.com/annalsofsurgery/Abstract/2009/05000/The_Periope… That study acquired its data "by searches of PubMed and references from relevant articles using the search terms “surgery,” “CRC,” and “metastases.” It does not appear to represent a change in thinking about the value of surgery for early-stage cancer, as even the page upon which your quote appears (http://www.lef.org/protocols/cancer/cancer_surgery_01.htm ) states that "Surgical removal of cancer typically provides the best chance of disease-free survival."

As Dr. West has said "The most important thing you can do in the pre-operative period to improve your chances of doing well is to work with a well qualified thoracic surgeon rather than the closest person who might say they do lung cancer surgery." - http://cancergrace.org/topic/prevention-of-surgery-trigged-metastasis-r…

JimC
Forum moderator

Jim's point that this work is based on indirect evidence in a report is very important.

If you search the internet for something to support an idea, no matter how incorrect the idea, you can almost always find something to back it up -- there are plenty of creationists who deny the evidence on evolution, and there is probably a website still promoting the idea that the world is flat, but there's no point in engaging in a debate on the subject.

The concept that surgery is a bad idea of surgically resectable cancer flies in the face of literally hundreds of years of experience and the prevailing treatment standards of all knowledgeable medical organizations on the subject throughout the industrialized world. The evidence supporting it is many orders of magnitude more compelling than the passing comment that purports that surgery leads to worse outcomes.

-Dr. West