Big Strides in Cancer Treatment Will Increase Long-Term Care Needs

hootieHootie’s Take: Call it the irony of longevity. As we live longer, we may die slower.

Cancer researchers are closer than ever to achieving their long-held dream of turning the disease from a death sentence to a chronic illness. This would be a remarkable scientific achievement. But while people may soon routinely live decades with their cancer in remission or even cured, they will not become immortal. Most will eventually suffer from some other debilitating condition and require a period of long-term supports and services… We want to live forever (or at least for an extra decade or two). And medical science may make it possible. But what will we do then? Who will take care of us? And how?

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