The importance of early detection in cancer from "summary" of EMPEROR OF ALL MALADIES IN PB by Siddhartha Mukherjee
Early detection in cancer is paramount – a single cell, a rogue cell, a cell that has gone awry, a cell that has replicated uncontrollably, a cell that has eluded the immune system, has been left unchecked for too long. The tumor grows, undetected, silent, invisible, until it reaches a critical mass, until it invades critical structures, until it begins to metastasize. In the early stages, cancer is a whisper, a murmur, a shadow – easily missed, easily mistaken for something benign. By the time it announces its presence, it has often advanced to a stage where treatment becomes challenging, where the odds are stacked against the patient. Early detection is a game-changer – it shifts the balance in favor of the patient, it gives them a fighting chance, it increases the likelihood of a successful outcome. The history of cancer is a history of missed opportunities, missed chances, missed diagnoses. The early signs were there, the symptoms were present, but they were dismissed, ignored, underestimated. The disease was allowed to progress unchecked, unchallenged, unopposed. Lives were lost...
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