Scientist or artist? Michael Peckham, who is best known for his contribution to the treatment of testicular cancer and Hodgkin lymphoma, and was involved in founding the European School of Oncology, refuses to choose and [more]
To treat or not to treat? Different people respond in different ways to learning they have lesions that may or may not develop into threatening cancers. Charlotte Huff talks to ‘patients’, doctors and psychologists about [more]
With social media platforms, search algorithms and online research tools designed to let people upload, share, find and comment on information in real time, Sophie Fessl asks: why are we still reliant on a 350-year-old [more]
Cancer has traditionally been the diagnosis people fear most. But is dying from cancer so much worse than the alternatives? Anna Wagstaff tries to make sense of an emotive discussion that all started with a [more]
Doctors get cancer too, but not many of them choose to make a documentary film about the experience. Vasiliki Michopoulou talked to some who did, and asked them why? It’s October, 2004, and Nikos Karvounis, [more]
This hard-hitting blogpost by Ken Murray, a retired Los Angeles family doctor, helped open up discussions about why doctors routinely administer treatments to dying patients that they would adamantly refuse for themselves. Years ago, Charlie, [more]
Its not uncommon for people diagnosed with cancer to explore how alternative practitioners might help. Some can, or at least do no harm. But the chances of running into a charlatan whose advice could be [more]
A great short piece by medical student Armaan Rowther flagging up the role of anatomy labs in shaping medics attitudes towards their future patients. “Is the language of medicine that is learned in anatomy lab [more]
The patient rejects the standard of care. The oncologist cannot answer his question How long do I have? Is the treatment course they agree on second best, or best? This article was first published online [more]
A shared sense of the value of helping people with incurable cancers achieve lives worth living has driven doctors to collaborate across borders for decades. An oncologist shares his experiences from the Cold War to [more]
If Tomasetti and Vogelstein had not used the words bad luck in their paper on how variation in cancer risk among tissues can be explained by the number of stem cell divisions, the media might [more]
How do we allow such behaviour among colleagues? asks the author, after experiencing what its like to feel vulnerable and in pain when your doctor doesnt seem to care. This article was first published in [more]
When youre caring for a patient and friend, who was recently your colleague, working out boundaries and negotiating the particular privileges and pressures of caring for them can be hard. The problem was explored in [more]