Curing Cancerphobia

As an oncologist and caregiver of a spouse with cancer, I felt very close to the issues raised and the coverage of the subject matter. I hope that this book will reach a broad audience to stimulate an open discussion on this topic.—John L. Marshall, MD, Georgetown University HospitalIn Curing Cancerphobia, Mr. Ropeik makes the case that, while screening saves lives in some cases, it has a modest lifesaving benefit overall, and also causes a fair bit of harm through overdiagnosis and overtreatment.The overall message of the book is an important one: Follow the science to find the right balance.—André Picard, Globe and MailRopeik takes a deep dive into the world of cancer screening and raises a troubling question: Has screening, despite its clear medical and psychological benefits, inadvertently created an irrational fear of cancer—a cancerphobia—that, in turn, has needlessly frightened or harmed people?…He carefully sifts though often-conflicting evidence of overscreening, overdiagnosis, and overtreatment.—Undark

David Ropeik (BOSTON, MA) is a retired instructor who taught at Harvard University. He is the author of How Risky Is It, Really? Why Our Fears Don’t Always Match the Facts. He was formerly an award-winning broadcast journalist in Boston, a science columnist for the Boston Globe, a board member of the Society of Environmental Journalists, and a Knight Science Journalism Fellow at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.