U.S. cancer death rates continue to decline

[News]

According to a new report from the American Cancer Society, cancer death rates have continued to fall in the past 15 years.

More... (http://www.healthcentral.com/rheumatoid-arthritis/news-289820-98.html)

[gdpawel]

But, if we would analyze non-cancer deaths among cancer patients, it could become clear that orthodox therapies often do more harm than good. For example, cancer treatment can damage the heart and cause deaths from heart failure. This means fewer deaths from cancer. Analysis of the records of 1.2 million cancer cases in the Surveilance, Evaluation and End Results (SEER) database showed that non-cancer deaths accounted for 21 - 37 percent of all deaths. The authors of this analysis attributed this effect to the damage caused by cancer treatment, mainly chemotherapy.

I believe that any true randomized clinical trial (where it has been shown that a group treated with chemotherapy experienced significantly increased survival when compared with that of an untreated group) would show the SEER figures to be too low. In clinical trials, many patients are excluded because they could not complete the rather arduous treatment. So randomized comparisions are of healthier treated patients against all the controls, rendering a lot of trials invalid.

And until recently, there was no access to SEER data in myelodyplastic syndrome (MDS). This data is now starting to be developed and is confirming that MDS differentially affects older patients. As the current generation's age and life expectation lengthens, MDS may become a significant health issue world wide. This also emphasizes the need to develop therapies for older patients not candidates for intensive chemotherapy or bone marrow transplantation.