Cancer by Another Name: The Quest for a Better Linguistic Taxonomy
| dc.contributor | Breen, Mara | |
| dc.contributor | Pasquerella, Lynn | |
| dc.contributor | Johnson, Kyle | |
| dc.contributor.advisor | Morgan, Lynn | |
| dc.contributor.advisor | Deutsch, Francine | |
| dc.contributor.author | Karron, Julia | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2015-05-26T13:15:06Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2015-05-26T13:15:06Z | |
| dc.date.gradyear | 2015 | en_US |
| dc.date.issued | 2015-05-26 | |
| dc.description.abstract | Drawing on the disciplines of psycholinguistics, medicine, and medical anthropology, this thesis evaluates the suggestion to rename breast Ductal Carcinoma In Situ (DCIS) to remove the reference to cancer. Chapter 1 focuses on the evolution of medical and social understanding of cancer and how the language used to describe and treat the disease reflected that understanding. Chapter 2 describes the war metaphor applied to cancer and stigma it causes. Chapter 3 explains Dr. Laura Esserman’s proposal to rename DCIS to Indolent Lesion of Epithelial Origin (IDLE). Chapter 4 discusses the recent precision medicine movement and a change in the taxonomical categorization of cancer within that framework. I argue that the language used to describe cancer has diverged from the science and should once more be realigned to benefit both patients and doctors. A new taxonomy should be informed by science, metaphors, and lived experience from patients and doctors. Finally, I conclude that such taxonomy should be developed within the near future, as we know enough scientifically about the disease to reclassify many of its heterogeneous types. | en_US |
| dc.description.sponsorship | Other or Special Major | en_US |
| dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/10166/3641 | |
| dc.language.iso | en_US | en_US |
| dc.rights.restricted | public | en_US |
| dc.subject | Cancer | en_US |
| dc.subject | Linguistics | en_US |
| dc.subject | Medical Anthropology | en_US |
| dc.subject | War Metaphor | en_US |
| dc.title | Cancer by Another Name: The Quest for a Better Linguistic Taxonomy | en_US |
| dc.type | Thesis | |
| mhc.degree | Undergraduate | en_US |
| mhc.institution | Mount Holyoke College |