The practice of biomedicine and the discourse on hope

Mary-Jo DelVecchio Good

pp. 121-135

in: Beatrix Pfleiderer, Gilles Bibeau (eds), Anthropologies of medicine, Wiesbaden, Vieweg+Teubner, 1991

Abstract

Since 1971 and the passage of the National Cancer Act, we have witnessed in the United States an extraordinary burgeoning of specialization in medical, surgical and radiation oncology and of the complementary fields of research oncology, including clinical trials and clinical epidemiology. The creation of these new specialties, the concomitant commitment of government funds to the National Cancer Institute for biomedical research in oncology, the expansion of clinical trials to international cancer "centers' and collaboration on research protocols, and the newly developing fee-for-service cancer research and treatment programs raise numerous questions for anthropological exploration[2].