Does surgery help patients with lung cancer?
After decades of using surgery as a treatment for lung cancer, the results are startling:
Surprisingly, considering how common it is to have surgery to combat lung cancer, the study (which was published in the journal Lancet Oncology in 2011) concluded that surgery “offers no benefit and possibly harms patients.”
Actually, those conclusions are a bit premature…
A meta-analysis of past research found flaws, and indicated that true, randomized studies are required (and currently being conducted) before we can say if surgery hurts or helps.
Applying a treatment that is still in question is quite common in medicine, particularly in the less regulated (as compared to medication) treatments like surgery. In those cases, logic rules before evidence, and even when evidence suggests the logic of the treatment is wrong, it may take a while before the facts matter.
