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Many cancer patients misunderstand chemotherapy’s aim

NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted Nov. 5, 2012

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Seven in 10 patients with stage IV lung cancer and 81% of patients with colorectal cancer wrongly believe the chemotherapy they have agreed to is likely to cure them, said a study in the Oct. 25 issue of The New England Journal of Medicine.

For these patients, chemotherapy may lengthen survival times or palliate cancer symptoms but will not cure the disease outright, said the study (link).

Black and Hispanic patients were three times likelier than white patients to believe that their chemotherapy was curative, according to the study of nearly 1,300 patients from California, North Carolina, Iowa and Alabama. The study authors said the findings suggest that patients with incurable cancer may be choosing chemotherapy without fully informed consent.

Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2012/11/05/prbf1105.htm.

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