Too much optimism may be bad for cancer patients

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/41299984/ns/health-cancer/

By Linda Carroll
msnbc.com contributor msnbc.com contributor
updated 1/28/2011 8:09:00 AM ET 2011-01-28T13:09:00

An optimistic outlook is often believed to have a positive impact on cancer. But researchers now say that optimism, like anything else, can be overdone. And “unrealistic optimism,” which a new study has found to be common among patients enrolling in early phase drug trials, may have a serious downside.

The problem, some experts say, is that unrealistic optimism may lead patients to sign up for very early stage trials when the patients might make other choices if they really understood and completely absorbed the true risks and benefits.

To learn more about the attitudes of patients in early phase trials, which only test toxicity of drugs and aren't intended to have a therapeutic benefit, researchers surveyed 72 patients with advanced cancer. All had signed up for phase I or phase II drug trials, according to a report published in the January issue of the journal IRB: Ethics & Human Research.

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