“Bad Luck” Cancer Paper Leaves Bad Taste

[sammason]

A few weeks ago, news reports told us that cancer is often due to 'bad luck.' This wasn't very good reporting. Here's discussion.

Comments

[nightengalesknd]

Some of the reporting was better than other, but overall I was glad the idea was put out there that many cancers occur without influence of known "risk factors." Even in cancers and other conditions where there are known risk factors, there is still an element of chance. Not everyone with those risk factors develops the condition. Not everyone with the condition was exposed to the risk factors.

While I agree it is important to reduce risk when possible, the constant focus on risk in health care leads to some dangerous areas. One is the blame game, where the person themselves, their friends and family or their medical team blame them for having developed the condition. Even if a person's behavior was a contributing risk factor, this blame approach doesn't generally help people get the care they need now. I see parents of children with conditions that do occur by chance, or due to previously unknown factors, blame themselves for years.

Another is the over-association of the condition with the risk, so that someone who doesn't fit the risk profile isn't tested for the condition or believed when they have it. Meanwhile people with the risk factors are often assumed to be at much higher risks and constantly told about how they are endangering themselves. None of this helps anyone either.