Why are the top comments in this thread all personal anecdotes? Is this reddit now?
Since when is it wrong for people who have personal experience with a topic to share personal anecdotes? And what does Reddit have to do with it?
AstraZeneca unveils successes in treatment of lung cancer
131–140 of 147 posts
Re: AstraZeneca unveils successes in treatment of lung cancer
#132Earlier quoted context omitted.
My family tried home care in the terminal stage, but it was too much for my mom and sister. My mom also had some serious mental illnesses, compounding the difficulty we had as a family. The trauma was so great I did not really hit a normal state of emotional and mental stability until I was about 30. I was the only one there as he took his last breath, and it still brings tears when I think about it.
Have you gotten therapy for that trauma?
I have. One thing one of the therapists told me was that it is ok to be angry at her for the abuse I took from her growing up, due to her mental illnesses. That worked wonders. Once you get past anger, it is pretty much all downhill from there.
Re: AstraZeneca unveils successes in treatment of lung cancer
#133It is about Osimertinib, sold under the brand name Tagrisso. It works (in “statistically significant and highly clinically meaningful” manner) against certain types of lung cancer when administered on early stage. It was provisionally approved after success in phase 1 trial by FDA in 2015 and by EMA in 2016. Side effects: Very common (greater than 10% of clinical trial subjects) adverse effects include diarrhea, stom…
> It works (in “statistically significant and highly clinically meaningful” manner) against certain types of lung cancer when administered on early stage. What is considered early stage? Pre symptoms? And what type of success rate are we talking here?
Cancer staging is complex, as one would expect for a wide-ranging category of diseases that follow different courses and cause harm different ways. Stage depends on tumor size, distance of spread, what organs it spread to (lymph nodes are especially worrisome), and how much the tumor cells differ from normal tissue. There is a large manual used by oncologists to record this information, and another large manual for cancer registrars to summarize it.
https://www.cancer.org/cancer/diagnosis-staging/staging.html
There are simplified categories of early/late stages, usually used in public health statistics. "Early stage" here is in situ (hasn't broken out of the tissue where it first appeared) or localized (hasn't left the primary site/organ). "Late stage" is regional (metastasized to adjacent organs) or distant (metastasized to non-adjacent organs, usually through the bloodstream or lymphatic system).
>What is considered early stage? Pre symptoms?
Not necessarily. This is generally true for things like kidney cancer, which is really deadly. People don't usually get checked until they have symptoms, which is usually after it's metastasized. But benign tumors can cause symptoms by physically pressing on organs. Benign brain tumors, which can kill, are an extreme example of this.
Re: AstraZeneca unveils successes in treatment of lung cancer
#134Why are the top comments in this thread all personal anecdotes? Is this reddit now?
Since when is it wrong for people who have personal experience with a topic to share personal anecdotes? And what does Reddit have to do with it?
I was under the impression that hacker news was not a place for sharing personal anecdotes, but rather a place for factual debate.
Re: AstraZeneca unveils successes in treatment of lung cancer
#135Why are the top comments in this thread all personal anecdotes? Is this reddit now?
https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
> Please don't post comments saying that HN is turning into Reddit. It's a semi-noob illusion, as old as the hills.
Re: AstraZeneca unveils successes in treatment of lung cancer
#136Earlier quoted context omitted.
I actually tried that but the ones I've found had explicit clauses against cancer and other diseases in fine print. Apparently they only help if you get hit by a car and alike. Probably need to make another pass. (I'm in Europe)
Yeah, the comment may have been more US-oriented (where I'm living). I do know a couple colleagues who can't get any term life insurance because of some pre-existing medical conditions. That's not good for them, obviously, but for most others, it makes sense to get something early. Years ago, at 35, I got an $800k 20 year term for about $55/month. Close to 20 years later, we have more savings/wealth, so my family wou…
One way around this is group health insurance through employers. Often they allow you to take the policy with you when you leave the employer.
The underwriting is done with a group, so the standards are lower and less intrusive.
Re: AstraZeneca unveils successes in treatment of lung cancer
#137Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yeah, the comment may have been more US-oriented (where I'm living). I do know a couple colleagues who can't get any term life insurance because of some pre-existing medical conditions. That's not good for them, obviously, but for most others, it makes sense to get something early. Years ago, at 35, I got an $800k 20 year term for about $55/month. Close to 20 years later, we have more savings/wealth, so my family wou…
One way around this is group health insurance through employers. Often they allow you to take the policy with you when you leave the employer. The underwriting is done with a group, so the standards are lower and less intrusive.
s/health/life/
Re: AstraZeneca unveils successes in treatment of lung cancer
#138I'm 31 years old, I was diagnosed with lung cancer a few months ago and am taking this drug. Although my life expectancy is still very limited at around 2 years this treatment is allowing me to live a fairly normal life for the time I have left.
The other treatment options are so much worse, this is just a tablet once a day with fairly mild side effects compared to hours of chemo at the hospital every day for weeks at a time.
I'm crying writing this as I just can't say how thankful that this treatment is available, I can't even come close to putting it into words.
Re: AstraZeneca unveils successes in treatment of lung cancer
#139Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yeah, the comment may have been more US-oriented (where I'm living). I do know a couple colleagues who can't get any term life insurance because of some pre-existing medical conditions. That's not good for them, obviously, but for most others, it makes sense to get something early. Years ago, at 35, I got an $800k 20 year term for about $55/month. Close to 20 years later, we have more savings/wealth, so my family wou…
One way around this is group health insurance through employers. Often they allow you to take the policy with you when you leave the employer. The underwriting is done with a group, so the standards are lower and less intrusive.
Interesting. The few times I've seen that, it's typically something like $20k-$50k, which seems more intended to get you through a few months, catch up on bills, etc, but not "family is financially secure for years". Perhaps you can get more via employer-sponsored plans, it just never was presented to me in the few corporate jobs I've had over the years (but boy oh boy did they try to sell cancer insurance!)
Re: AstraZeneca unveils successes in treatment of lung cancer
#140Earlier quoted context omitted.
To be fair, there are other cancers that are essentially cured. Lung cancer is a particularly nasty one for a number of reasons. It's hard to fight with the laws of physics or biology, so I'm curious who promised you something else. In general though, I tend to agree that in the US we spend far too much on what essentially boils down to performative end of Life Care. If you ask someone if they would rather spend $200…
"This year marks the 50th anniversary of the “War on Cancer” declared by Richard Nixon, a former President of the United States of America. By signing into law the National Cancer Act on December 23, 1971, Nixon hoped this action to be the landmark legislation taken by his administration. Nixon apparently had confidence that cancer would be conquered in 5 years." You're right, there are a small handful of unusual can…
> You're right, there are a small handful of unusual cancers that we have cures for, and that's great. And some small progress has been made overall. But a lot of money has been spent, and it has been half a century or more, and we don't have much to show for our efforts.
Yes, it would be better if we had more complete treatments but it’s far from nothing. I have a friend who was given 6 months to live a couple decades ago, right before a treatment for his not especially rare cancer was approved. He didn’t expect to see his daughter leave elementary school but is still around for her post college career – and as a scientist himself is keenly aware of how much hard work made that possible. We can simultaneously acknowledge that progress has been made but cancer is one of the hardest problems humanity has tackled.