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Cancer Medicine

War on cancer progress report, belated 2021 edition

The narrative we hear time and time again is that we are “losing the war on cancer”. The latest cancer statistics show that this narrative is not true.

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Evolution Medicine Science Skepticism/critical thinking

Dichotomous thinking, uncertainty, and science denial

There is a defect in thinking that is arguably at the heart of much of science denial, dichotomous thinking. We all do it to some extent, but science deniers do it in spades.

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Cancer Medicine Skepticism/critical thinking

The “war on cancer”: We’re doing better than commonly portrayed

If you were to rely on much of what you see in the mainstream media and on social media, you probably have the impression that we are not doing very well against cancer. Indeed, a common trope I see in a lot of articles is that we are somehow “losing” the war on cancer. Just […]

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Bioethics Cancer Clinical trials Medicine Science Skepticism/critical thinking

Evidence-based medicine guidelines versus patient wishes

There’s a misconception that I frequently hear about evidence-based medicine (EBM), which can equally apply to science-based medicine (SBM). Actually, there are several, but they are related. These misconceptions include the idea that EBM/SBM guidelines are a straightjacket, that they are “cookbook medicine,” and that EBM/SBM should be the be-all and end-all of how to […]

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Biology Cancer Medicine Science Skepticism/critical thinking

No, the PSA test probably didn’t save Ben Stiller’s life

A frequent topic of discussion on this blog is the concept of overdiagnosis. It’s a topic I’ve been writing about regularly since around 2007 or so and is defined as the detection in an asymptomatic person of disease that, if left alone, would never progress to endanger that person’s life or well-being within his or […]