People living with incurable cancers urge more research

ATLANTA (AP) — Millions of people are living longer with cancers that have spread widely and are considered incurable. Now, there’s a push for more research on what it’s like to live with the disease, not just how to treat it.

At a cancer conference that ends Wednesday in Atlanta, long-term patients and survivors said researchers should involve them earlier in planning studies and pay more attention to what side effects, risks and lifestyle changes they’re willing to accept. They also want more advice on handling other health concerns such as high cholesterol.

Two patients at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore described their cancer treatments in Wednesday’s New England Journal of Medicine. They say guidelines often assume the disease is in remission, but many patients now live for years with advanced cancer.