About a million people aged below 50 die of cancer annually, a study says, projecting another 21 percent rise by 2030.

  • maegul (he/they)
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    1 year ago

    I think the argument they’re making is that detecting that a death is caused by cancer is probably not an advanced affair requiring new diagnostic technology.

    Personally, I think it’s an interesting question, given that it stands to reason that cancer, by the time it has caused death, should be pretty easily detectable in any sort of autopsy.

    • Illecors@lemmy.cafe
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      1 year ago

      A post-mortem is not what most people think of when talking about cancer diagnostics.

      • lte678@feddit.de
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        1 year ago

        Well, the article refers to both :)

        I think you’d be right about the “number of diagnoses” statement in the title, but I think the discussion is about the deaths due to cancer, which have also increased and would not have as strong of a correlation for the reasons others mentioned

        • Illecors@lemmy.cafe
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          1 year ago

          But that’s directly related. People used to die when “catching a cold”. We call that lung cancer nowadays. Same thing with many other branches of cancer.

      • Even in the US, autopsies are not always performed. Ima quote WebMD because I’m bone idle:

        Although laws vary, nearly all states call for an autopsy when someone dies in a suspicious, unusual, or unnatural way.

        Many states have one done when a person dies without a doctor present. Twenty-seven states require it if the cause of death is suspected to be from a public health threat, such as a fast-spreading disease or tainted food.

        According to a 2012 DOJ report, only 8.5% of US deaths result in autopsy.

      • maegul (he/they)
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        1 year ago

        I mean sure. But the data is likely comparative and can be looked at just within countries that have been getting autopsies since the 90s.