Prasad提醒,通过非常规扫描偶然发现的癌症缺乏可参照的基线,创始人的良好预后不能简单归功于定制疗法(存在提前诊断与选择偏倚)。
我们知道,有些脑癌患者在出现剧烈头痛和癫痫发作后能存活约18个月,但对于通过他人没有做的MRI偶然发现的2级星形细胞瘤患者能活多久,我们并不清楚。是20年还是40年?当我听说某位创始人的2级星形细胞瘤3年后状况良好时,我不知道这是因为新疗法、早期诊断,还是给所有人做脑部MRI扫描本来就会出现的结果。原文 (en)
We know people with some brain cancers live 18 months from when they present with crushing headaches and seizures, but we have no idea how long people live whose grade 2 astrocytoma is incidentally found on an MRI others don't get. Is it 20 years or 40? When I hear about a founder with grade 2 astrocytoma who's doing well 3 years later I don't know if that's because of the novel treatment, the early diagnosis, or just what you'd expect if you scanned everyone's brain with MRIs.