Where few people used to survive for long after a cancer diagnosis, about half of all diagnosed patients are now cured.
Every few years or so, the media present a startling report on some new way to treat cancer. The treatment is typically described as resulting in "miraculous cures" or as being able to prolong lives in some extraordinary fashion. The exact formula or chemical content is usually unknown or is kept secret by the practitioner promoting this new method. Knowledge of the treatment often spreads only by word of mouth or by being publicized in certain types of popular magazines and tabloid papers.
These "cures" are not reported in the scientific literature, however, nor are they backed by the extensive data and research information that accompany reports of new medical tests and therapies. There are two reasons why reports on these cures never show up in scientific journals:
• The most common reason is that the practitioners promoting the unorthodox method did not actually study it
and so never prepared any report to send to scientific publications. Typically, these practitioners say they are
too busy treating patients to spend time on evaluation or research, even though it is only through rigorous
evaluation and research that the worth of a treatment can be known.
• The other reason is that a report may have been sent to a journal's editorial board, but that its publication in a
medical journal was considered not warranted because the quality of its data was so poor or because it lacked
