Part 5/11:
Imagine Sarah, a woman with undetectable tiny cancerous cells at age 50 in 1970. She lives to 75, dying of heart issues, but no one notices her cancer. In 1990, better technology discovers her cancer early, and she receives treatment. She still dies at 75, but now she's labeled a cancer survivor for 25 years.
This "diagnostic reclassification" doesn’t extend her life; it just changes her label. The statistics show a dramatic increase in survival time for cancer patients, but the actual lifespan remains unchanged.