Great News! You Don’t Actually Have Cancer, Unless You Do

A distinguished group of experts from the National Cancer Institute has some great news for women who have been diagnosed with ductal carcinoma in situ, and for some of the many men who have been told they have prostate cancer: you don’t really have cancer.  What you have is an IDLE condition, short for “indolent lesions of epithelial origin.” The New York Times reports that the cancer experts are pressing for a redefinition of several kinds of abnormal cell growth that have been described as cancer, with the hope that the modified vernacular will discourage some of the thousands of unnecessary treatments that cause physical and emotional pain, and do nothing to improve anyone’s health. The Times reports that officials at the National Cancer Institute are convinced that overdiagnosis is a major public health concern and have made halting it a priority of the agency. The only catch: no one has figured how to predict with cases of IDLE will remain idle and which will evolve into real, life-threatening cancer. Read more in the New York Times.