War on fighting talk - why the battlefield rhetoric around cancer is insensitive and unhelpful

The battlefield rhetoric around cancer is considered by many to be insensitive and unhelpful, writes Marjorie Brennan

WHEN US senator John McCain went public with his brain cancer diagnosis last month, he received thousands of messages of support on social media, including a tweet from former president Barack Obama: “John McCain is an American hero & one of the bravest fighters I’ve ever known. Cancer doesn’t know what it’s up against. Give it hell, John.”

It was a heartfelt statement, strong on military metaphor, perhaps not surprisingly, given McCain’s long and illustrious record in the US Navy.