It seems relevant here because the question was “How will this potentially help me if I get cancer?” and the answer is “Not at all unless you get a particular form of cancer that this applies to”.

> Bacteria are also all different, but still they are "one thing", and despite their diversity, antibiotics exist that can deal with many species of them at once.

Except people don’t ask “what if I get bacteria” the way they ask about cancer. If the story was about a new antibiotic that only affected 20% of common infectious bacteria strains and someone asked “in laypersons terms, how will this help me if I get a bacterial infection”, it would be appropriate to clarify that it only applies to some bacteria.

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LoganDark 4 hours ago | parent [-]

> Except people don’t ask “what if I get bacteria” the way they ask about cancer.

Yeah, but doctors also don't tell people "you have bacteria" or claim "we found a cure for bacteria". The lack of nuance on average is largely due to a lack of nuance from experts. The media treats cancer as one big thing and bacteria and viruses as separate things. Thus the average joe inherits 'treating cancer as one big thing' from the media.

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dpark 4 hours ago | parent | next [-]

I agree with you about the media. Cancer is often presented as a monolithic thing by the media. I don’t agree at all about experts. Doctors and scientists who research cancers do not lack nuance.

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jldugger 4 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Is it? I'm pretty sure oncologists will say "you have stage 2 breast cancer," but I wasn't in the room at the time.

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dpark 4 hours ago | parent [-]

Oncologists are actually way more specific than even that. Because there are many forms of breast cancer and different treatments depending on the type.

But yeah, oncologists aren’t telling people “you have cancer” the way they might say “you have MRSA”.

	▲	cogman10 3 hours ago \| parent [-]
		Yeah, it's WAY more specific. We got a genetic breakdown, multiple pamphlets on the drugs being used, what they are targeting, and why they work (along with the risks). Honestly, I think people probably get false impressions because cancer usually hits old people and old people are, frankly, often not reliable narrators.