ABSTRACT
ONE out of three persons stricken with cancer today will survive at least five years. Twenty years ago the figure was one out of five. Survival rates for most major forms of cancer have climbed even more dramatically in the past decade. In ironic contradiction to this hopeful news, however, a grim fact must be recognized. Large numbers of people diagnosed with cancer refuse to comply with therapeutic regimens, or their compliance is so spotty as to render treatment largely ineffective, especially troubling because much of the improvement in survival rates is due to the use of more effective drugs.
