Cancer Misconceptions

Can cancer cells be spread through the body by surgery? Are pain medications effective against cancer? Think about those questions and come up with an answer because I will tell you the correct answers later. Those questions and more were all put to 957 adults in a survey conducted by the journal 'Cancer' in an attempt to see whether the myths of cancer are widely believed today.
Having had most of my family lost to cancer I know quite a bit about the subject, and I agree with the survey results that show many people simply do not understand what cancer does to the body. As a results many patients who have cancer may fail to get treatment or may fail to stick with it.
Here are some highlights of the survey
1) The most prevalent misconception was that treating cancer with surgery causes it to spread though out the body (Did you get that one right?). 41% of the respondents mistakenly believed that was true.
2) The second most prevalent misconception was that the medical industry is "withholding a cure for cancer from the public in order to increase their profits." 27% of the people asked that believed it was the truth.
3) Only 38% believed the falsehood that pain medications are ineffective against cancer.
4) 13% thought there is no treatment that is effective in treating cancer.
5) 11% believed that it takes only a positive attitude to defeat cancer.
In sum, the survey shows that the public (the survey was of the American public) is badly informed about the nature of cancer and that most people over estimate how much they know about it. Only 25% of the respondents answered all 5 misconception questions correctly. Further, this may explain why some people are more likely to die of cancer than others.