Scientists have explained why cancer patients can live longer

It turned out that patients who often visited a GP before the oncological diagnosis have a greater chance of a good prognosis.

On average, general practitioners see approximately 8 cases of cancer in their patients every year. But at the same time, he can notice symptoms in a person that may indicate cancer and refer him for examination. This means that cancer is diagnosed earlier than if the patient had not visited the doctor.

Analysis of the data showed that cancer patients who visited the doctor frequently before diagnosis responded better to treatment and had better prognoses. This is mainly due to the early detection of cancer, but other reasons also play a role. In particular, people who often visit the doctor are concerned about their health and try to take care of it more often than others. They are more likely to take prescription medications, follow prescriptions, adhere to prescribed diets, and so on.

In the treatment of cancer, even the patient’s discipline can play a serious positive role: a person will not delay the prescribed examination and, after receiving the results, immediately begin treatment. In the case of cancer, this can make a big difference.

As the authors of the work noted, among the cases studied, the mortality rate in patients who frequently visited a general practitioner in the medium term was less than 1 in 5. While those who did not seek medical care unless absolutely necessary had a mortality rate of 1 in 4 had.