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Need for a paradigm shift in cancer prevention and clinical oncology

Matthias P Ebert1, Roland Schmid, Christoph Röcken

  • 1Department of Medicine II, Klinikum rechts der Isar, TU München, Ismaninger Str. 22, 81675 München, Germany. matthias.ebert@lrz.tum.de

Expert Review of Anticancer Therapy
|October 20, 2007
PubMed

Insights

Cancer mortality remains unchanged despite advances. A new approach focusing on early risk assessment, systemic therapy, and prevention could dramatically improve patient outcomes by treating cancer development, not just end-stage disease.

Area of Science:

  • Oncology
  • Cancer Research
  • Preventive Medicine

Background:

  • Cancer, particularly hepatogastrointestinal malignancies, affects millions annually with high mortality.
  • Cancer mortality rates have stagnated unlike those for heart, cerebrovascular, and infectious diseases.
  • Current cancer diagnosis often occurs at advanced stages, limiting curative treatment options.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To propose a paradigm shift in cancer management from treating end-stage disease to proactive prevention and early intervention.
  • To investigate the potential of systemic therapies and biomarker-guided risk assessment in oncology.
  • To hypothesize a new approach for improving cancer patient prognosis.

Main Methods:

  • Reviewing trends in cancer and other major disease mortality.
  • Analyzing the shift towards systemic therapy in oncology.
  • Proposing a two-step hypothesis integrating risk assessment, treatment, and prevention.

Main Results:

  • Significant decreases in mortality for cardiovascular and infectious diseases contrast with stagnant cancer mortality.
  • Current oncology practices often diagnose cancer at late, incurable stages.
  • A novel approach focusing on early detection and prevention is hypothesized to improve outcomes.

Conclusions:

  • A paradigm shift towards systemic therapy and biomarker-guided risk assessment is needed in oncology.
  • Proactive management of cancer development, rather than solely treating established disease, is crucial.
  • This new approach holds the potential to significantly improve cancer patient prognosis and survival rates.

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