Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by nphyte 3982 days ago
what are good ways of educating people about cancer? I have a relative who was diagnosed in the later stages and it was a very traumatic exp for them and the family. Are there some tests that can be integrated with the regular body check up that can help people with earlier diagnosis?
2 comments
jkirshner 3981 days ago
American Association for Cancer Research (AACR), American Cancer Society (ACS), and National Cancer Institute (NCI) are good sources for reliable information on cancer. There are many sites that talk about cancer, but if you want information based on research (both lab and clinical) these three provide the most trustworthy information.

Regarding tests, some are already available, such as mammography, and many people are working on creating molecular diagnostics that can identify cancer early from a blood sample. A few blood tests already exist, such as CA125 for ovarian cancer, PSA for prostate, CEA for colon.

link
nathan_f77 3982 days ago
I've been thinking that I would like to get CT and MRI scan done for my whole body, maybe every 4-6 months. Then doctors could keep track of any suspicious lumps, and perform biopsies if they are growing at an unusual rate.

I've read many articles that say MRIs are overused and lead to overdiagnosis. They say that many people have benign nodules and cysts that you don't need to worry about, and you might even end up worrying about shadows or other scanning errors. You'll end up having too many biopsies, which can be invasive and have negative side-effects.

But I think this might be a different story if you could compare two full-body scans, and take note of the differences. In fact, I'm starting to wonder if rich people get this done all the time, and it's just too expensive to provide this level of medical care to the rest of the world.

It's just a fact that a tumour could be growing inside me right now, and I wouldn't know about it until it starts causing side effects. I hope we see some breakthroughs for the early detection of cancer, and I'm really glad to see companies like this being funded by YC.

link