The reason we treat cancer is so that we can eliminate it in its earliest stages. That means we’ve got to get on and do what needs to be done in a prompt way. That’s not the same as saying you’re diagnosed today, and you must have an operation tomorrow. And, in fact, in some cancers, prostate cancer as an example, you can actually wait some weeks, without any real risk of it changing outcomes.
In general, though, we like to treat cancers in a way that gets on with treatment over one, two, three weeks from the time of diagnosis, so that we actually maximise our chances of eradicating the disease before there’s any spread.
Professor Michael Boyer is Medical Oncologist at Chris O’Brien Lifehouse
