Update on the War on Cancer

Yesterday NPR had an interesting interview with Dr. Jerome Groopman of Harvard Medical School and the author of The Anatomy of Hope and How Doctors Think. He gave his assessment of the so-called War on Cancer and several points stood out for me:

• Cancer has proven to be a tenacious enemy. We are not yet winning the war, but we have won some battles.
• There are ongoing studies on the role of inflammation and even infection as a possible precursor to some cancers. When DD17 was first diagnosed, a nurse relative spoke with a doctor friend at her hospital who suggested some brain tumors in children could indeed spring from an infection earlier in life. I had never heard of this at the time, but we know that infection can cause cervical cancer, so why not brain tumors?
• Cancer treatment varies widely across the country. Access to a major, university medical center is access to cutting-edge surgical teams and treatment options. I am so very, very glad we are within an hour of wonderful hospitals. During treatment, I often wondered how parents coped when they lived far away from major hospitals. Traveling for treatment must be incredibly stressful, expensive, and disruptive to the whole family. And staying local may be settling for substandard care.
• The role of vitamins is potentially dangerous in cancer patients. I struggled with this one for a long time, and still wonder. I've always given the kids a multi-vitamin, but stopped giving one to my daughter when I couldn't find consistent information on the pros or cons of vitamin supplementation. Dr. Groopman is blunt: "Cancer cells love vitamins...because it feeds their growth."

Dr. Groopman's books (at least the two I've read) can be difficult to read. They present true patient stories, and not all of them end well. But I guess that's reality. I received The Anatomy of Hope soon after DD17's diagnosis and couldn't finish reading it. Many of the patient stories ended badly. I had to keep reminding myself that this wasn't our story, and each cancer journey is unique.

I've found oncologists to be, if not exactly pessimists, not optimists either. They never promise you anything. Sometimes, you just want a nugget of hope, but their clinical training keeps them grounded in black and white, when sometimes we are just searching for some shades of gray.

The full interview with Dr. Groopman can be heard here.