Study Suggests Some Cancers May Go Away

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November 25, 2008

Study Suggests Some Cancers May Go Away

By GINA KOLATA

Cancer researchers have known for years that it was possible in rare cases for

some cancers to go away on their own. There were occasional instances of

melanomas and kidney cancers that just vanished. And neuroblastoma, a very rare

childhood tumor, can go away without treatment.

But these were mostly seen as oddities - an unusual pediatric cancer that might

not bear on common cancers of adults, a smattering of case reports of

spontaneous cures. And since almost every cancer that is detected is treated, it

seemed impossible even to ask what would happen if cancers were left alone.

Now, though, researchers say they have found a situation in Norway that has let

them ask that question about breast cancer. And their new study, to be published

Tuesday in The Archives of Internal Medicine, suggests that even invasive

cancers may sometimes go away without treatment and in larger numbers than

anyone ever believed.

At the moment, the finding has no practical applications because no one knows

whether a detected cancer will disappear or continue to spread or kill.

And some experts remain unconvinced.

" Their simplification of a complicated issue is both overreaching and alarming, "

said A. , director of breast cancer screening at the American Cancer

Society.

But others, including M. Kaplan, the chairman of the department of health

services at the School of Public Health at the University of California, Los

Angeles, are persuaded by the analysis. The implications are potentially

enormous, Dr. Kaplan said.

Full story

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/25/health/25breast.html?pagewanted=print