Diagnostic Designs
At the very outset, it must
be made clear that the diagnosis of cancer is
irrelevant for 2 reasons. Diagnosis is always a little too
late in the life of a cancer or a tumour. This is a
well-established axiom now. The other point is that even
if a diagnosis can be clinched and the tumour removed
in toto, what of the next normal cell turning
cancerous the very next day! The ordinary truth of recruitment
or canceration has been potent enough to render
all cancer therapies defunct, almost to start with. All
diagnostic triumphs are loud trumpeting in an intellectually
vacuous air, to the advantage of the proclaimers, hype up
hopes of the lay, and connivance of some clear ordinary but
blatant truths.
The Times of India of
September 12, 2013 reported “A microscope that fits inside a
needle developed – the smallest hand-held microscope that
fits inside a needle and can even pinpoint those cancer
cells that are often missed during operations while removing
breast tumors.” A sweet breakthrough (The Times of India,
July 9, 2013) declared “Sugar can help detect cancer: A
new and cheaper technique to detect cancer which uses sugar
to light up tumors in MRI scans. This breakthrough by
researchers at University College, London will provide a
safer and simple alternative to standard radioactive
techniques.” A report (The Times of India, October 2,
2013) reported on the “Sharper X-ray beam developed:
Scientists have generated the world’s sharpest X-ray beam
10,000 times thinner than a strand of hair. The fine X-ray
beam, barely 5 nanometers in diameter allows focusing on
small details.”The Times of India of November 1,
2013 reported on “New test to detect breast cancer: The test
identifies 7 distinct types of breast cancer – possibly
available within next 2 years – allowing personalized
treatments to woman with breast cancer. The method screens
for 10 key proteins that identify 7 different biological
types of breast cancer. The researchers further reported
that breast can be divided into 10 different forms on the
basis of the patient’s genetic makeup.”