Are Doctors Too Quick to Cut? - Room for Debate - NYTimes.com

new study has found that removing cancerous lymph nodes in about 20 percent of breast cancer patients does not improve survival or prevent cancer recurrence. The surgery was unnecessary because the women in the study, all with early breast cancer, had chemotherapy and radiation, which probably wiped out any disease in the nodes. Yet for many decades the painful procedure, which can cause debilitating complications, has been standard treatment. The new evidence is expected to alter that approach drastically. (By contrast, surgery is becoming more effective in some fields, like prenatal treatment of spina bifida.)

What does the breast cancer news say about the way we look at surgery as routine treatment? Does the American medical culture rely too much on cutting out the problem? Is that changing?

http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2011/02/09/are-doctors-too-quick-to-cut

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