Oncology and a time of crisis. Science, complexity, ethic values, and incertitude. An argumentative essay

by. Luigi PIRTOLI MD, PhD, Lutfi ALIA MD, PhD, Simone ZACCHINI MD, PhD

Abstract

Who faces a neoplastic disease is more bewildered than in the past, in spite of the improvement of the possibility of cure and priority attributed to this subject by the health institutions and medicine, compared to few decades ago. Nevertheless, disorientation is increasing due to many factors, also beyond those of the scientific and welfare context of cancer and is related to the general background of crisis. The landscape of crisis involves the changes occurring in both epistemic and contextual values, and methodology of science at large, as well as those particular of the medical field, including oncology. The perceived ltoss of reliability of universal laws and the limits of general theories, in favor of the conception that elementary events concurr to outcomes, makes the scientific appraisal more probabilistic than deterministic. This framework of “complexity” is characterized by non-linearity in the causal links, opacity of the investigated subject, and emergence of the phenomena we observe and analyze. In oncological medicine, the present deterministic “gold standard” of the random comparative trials, grounding the so-called evidence-based medicine (EBM), and the guidelines for clinical management – although being the most reliable resource – are critically considered. In fact, new “systems biology” approaches.

How to cite: Pirtoli, L., Alia, L., & Zacchini, S. (2021). Oncology and a time of crisis. science, complexity, ethic values, and incertitude. an argumentative essay. Medicus, 5(2), 104–117.

https://doi.org/10.58944/yecp1983