It really depends on the type of cancer one has and the particular stage (varies with each type of cancer) you are at when diagnosed. Perhaps if one is in their later years and at an advanced stage where chemo only "buys you time" in months or a couple of years I would see your point. However, I have had some experience with cancer in my family. My son was diagnosed with leukemia at age 10. The survival rate for his form of ALL is 94%. A no brainer to pursue the treatments no? I was diagnosed with stage 3A colon cancer a couple of years ago at the age of 44. I am the bread winner of the family have two young sons. My "survival" was not measured in years at diagnosis. A surgery to remove the cancer and 6 months of chemo I am now what is termed "no evidence showing of cancer." The surgery and chemo stats for my form of cancer has a survival rate of over 70% meaning a 70% or more chance of the cancer not recurring. My son finished his treatments at age 14 a few months ago and has no evidence of recurrence.
So it really depends on your age (can someone in their older years handle the treatments), stage and type of cancer.
I am reminded of a pastor named David Jeremiah who was diagnosed and treated for cancer about the same time as me. Many of his own flock asked why he trusted modern medicine to heal him of his affliction. He responded thus:
And the scripture reference he gave for God using natural world solutions to ailments:
Isaiah 38: In those days Hezekiah was sick and near death. And Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, went to him and said to him, “Thus says the Lord: ‘Set your house in order, for you shall die and not live.’”
2 Then Hezekiah turned his face toward the wall, and prayed to the Lord, 3 and said, “Remember now, O Lord, I pray, how I have walked before You in truth and with a loyal heart, and have done what is good in Your sight.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly.
4 And the word of the Lord came to Isaiah, saying, 5 “Go and tell Hezekiah, ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of David your father: “I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears; surely I will add to your days fifteen years.
Then here the treatment prescribed by The Great I AM comes in verse 21 same chapter:
21 Now Isaiah had said, “Let them take a lump of figs, and apply it as a poultice on the boil, and he shall recover.”
And Hezekiah's thanksgiving? Same chapter here:
9 This is the writing of Hezekiah king of Judah, when he had been sick and had recovered from his sickness:
10 I said, “In the prime of my life I shall go to the gates of Sheol; I am deprived of the remainder of my years.” 11 I said, “I shall not see Yah, The Lord in the land of the living; I shall observe man no more among the inhabitants of the world. 12 My life span is gone, Taken from me like a shepherd’s tent; I have cut off my life like a weaver. He cuts me off from the loom; From day until night You make an end of me. 13 I have considered until morning— Like a lion, So He breaks all my bones; From day until night You make an end of me. 14 Like a crane or a swallow, so I chattered; I mourned like a dove; My eyes fail from looking upward. O Lord, I am oppressed; Undertake for me!
15 “What shall I say? He has both spoken to me, And He Himself has done it. I shall walk carefully all my years In the bitterness of my soul. 16 O Lord, by these things men live; And in all these things is the life of my spirit; So You will restore me and make me live. 17 Indeed it was for my own peace That I had great bitterness; But You have lovingly delivered my soul from the pit of corruption, For You have cast all my sins behind Your back. 18 For Sheol cannot thank You, Death cannot praise You; Those who go down to the pit cannot hope for Your truth. 19 The living, the living man, he shall praise You, As I do this day; The father shall make known Your truth to the children.
20 “The Lord was ready to save me; Therefore we will sing my songs with stringed instruments All the days of our life, in the house of the Lord.”
Absolutely a no-brainer right there. :-)
I was diagnosed with stage 3A colon cancer a couple of years ago at the age of 44.
A few years ago, I read that stage 3 colon cancer has a very good prognosis.
But, even if the survival rate were, say, 6%, fighting cancer is still worth a try because - who knows? - the patient could be in that 6%. Sadly, I had a relative (only 42 with two young sons) fighting a rare type of colon cancer the same year I was fighting cancer. Unfortunately, in her case, the specific type of cancer was particularly brutal. She fought so hard, but she didn't make it through the year. She was beautiful, by the way. And, with a young family to raise, she did everything she could to try to beat it - starting with chemo and, when it didn't work, her husband drove her everywhere looking for clinical trials. It was worth the try, for her sons' sake.