Two well-known celebrities were diagnosed with cancer this week – and each case illustrates the confusion that is indicative of the experience of cancer diagnosis in our broken medical system.

Ryan O’neal announced his diagnosis last Friday (4/13) stating that he has stage 4 prostate cancer, but has been given a “positive” prognosis because it was caught early. Stage 4 PCa is never a positive prognosis, and in all likelihood it was not caught early… if it was caught early that is one seriously aggressive cancer that is very likely well beyond hope for “cure.”
http://www.nj.com/entertainment/celebrities/index.ssf/2012/04/ryan_oneal_has_stage_4_prostat.html

On the flip side…

Warren Buffett, who announced yesterday (4/17) that he has been diagnosed with prostate cancer that is “not remotely life threatening.” At 81 years of age, he fits the profile of a patient who does not need treatment, eg, the treatment itself will likely do more harm than good and is very unlikely to prolong his life AT ALL. He does intend, however, to undergo 8 weeks of radiation therapy…

I wonder if Mr. Buffet would ever consider donating the thousands of dollars that will pay for his treatment which in all probability is unnecessary to help an underserved patient pay for a life-saving treatment that they can’t afford… he seems like a nice guy… maybe he will…