Rumor 1: Cancer is a modern disease caused by man
Thousands of years ago, doctors in ancient Egypt and Greece described this disease. Scientists have also found signs of cancer on a 3,000-year-old human skeleton.
While it is true that the incidence of diseases like cancer, which are linked to lifestyle habits, is increasing every year globally, the biggest risk factor for cancer remains age.
It’s a simple fact: more and more people are living long enough to get cancer because we’re coping quite successfully with things like infectious diseases and malnutrition, which have historically caused people to die. It is perfectly normal that as we age, we accumulate more and more DNA damage in our cells; and it is this damage that causes cancer to develop. And, thanks to advances in the fields of early cancer screening, imaging and pathology, we can now diagnose cancer more accurately as well.
Rumor 2: “Superfoods” can prevent cancer
Blueberries, beet, broccoli, garlic, green tea …… There are countless foods that people have high hopes of preventing cancer. Although there are thousands of websites claiming that this or that food can prevent cancer, there is no such thing as a superfood. These claims are nothing more than commercial sales tactics and have absolutely no scientific basis.
But that doesn’t mean you don’t have to care about what you eat. Some foods are indeed healthier than others, and the occasional blueberry and green tea can certainly be part of a healthy, balanced diet. Eating more fruits and vegetables and diversifying the variety of vegetables you eat on a daily basis can be beneficial, but it doesn’t make sense to expect that eating a specific vegetable will prevent cancer. Our bodies are very complex, and so is cancer, so to claim that a single food can influence cancer incidence is too simplistic.
For decades, there has been a growing body of evidence that proves the simple, almost unmentionable fact that cancer rates can only be reduced by adhering to a healthy lifestyle over time, such as not smoking, exercising more, maintaining a healthy weight, and not drinking alcohol.
Rumor 3: “Acidic food” causes cancer
There are some rumors about cancer that are not even clear about basic biology, but they are surprisingly persistent, and “acidic food causes cancer” is one of them. It is believed that some “acidic foods” cause the blood to become acidic, which in turn increases the risk of cancer. Therefore, you need to eat more healthy “alkaline foods” such as leafy greens and fruits (including, surprisingly, tart lemons).
This argument simply doesn’t make sense biologically. It’s true that cancer cells cannot survive in an overly alkaline environment, but the problem is that so can all the other cells in your body.
Normal blood is slightly alkaline. The kidneys are responsible for maintaining the pH of the blood to float within only a small normal range. The effect of eating on blood pH alone is simply not sustainable. Eating leafy greens is certainly good for your health, but definitely not because it changes the pH of your body.
There is a special case called acidosis, which is a physiological abnormality – the inability of the kidneys and lungs to keep the body’s pH in the normal range. Acidosis is usually the result of some serious illness or poisoning. Acidosis can be life-threatening and require emergency medical attention, but it has nothing to do with the so-called “acidic foods” you eat.
In addition, the microenvironment around cancer cells can be acidic. This is because the metabolic pathway of respiration in tumor tissue is different from that of normal tissue. Researchers are trying to figure out what causes this change, which could help in cancer treatment. But there is no evidence that diet can change the body’s pH or affect the incidence of cancer.
Rumor 4: Cancer cells love sweets
Another idea we often see is that sugar “feeds” cancer cells, so cancer patients should cut out sugar. This is a very complex area that scientists are just beginning to understand, and the rumor mill is making it too simple to be helpful.
”Sugar” is a generic term for a range of molecules, including the monosaccharides (glucose, fructose) that occur naturally in plants. The sugar we normally use to flavor our meals is sucrose, which is made up of glucose and fructose bonded together chemically. Sugars are also called carbohydrates because their molecules are all made up of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen.
Because cancer cells tend to grow more rapidly compared to normal cells, cancer cells have a greater demand for glucose. There is also evidence that cancer cells break down glucose energy producing metabolic pathways differently than normal cells. Researchers are conducting studies on glucose metabolism pathways in cancer cells and hope to find more effective cancer treatments (e.g., the promising but not yet approved new anti-cancer drug DCA).
Our bodies don’t decide which cells should get which nutrients. Most of the carbohydrates we eat are converted into glucose, fructose or other small molecules of sugar to supply those tissues that need energy.
The “acidic foods cause cancer” and “sugar feeds cancer cells” mentioned above are both misinterpretations of sound dietary advice. When it comes to dietary advice, the real scientific advice is still very boring – eat more fruits, vegetables, fiber, white meat and fish, less fat, salt, sugar, red meat or processed meat products, and less alcohol.
Rumor #5: Cancer is a fungus and can be cured with baking soda
This “theory” comes from a generalized observation that “tumors are always white”.
Not to mention that cancer cells are not a fungus at all, the most obvious problem with this view is that tumors are not always white. Some are, but others really aren’t. Ask any pathologist or cancer surgeon, or just Google images (but not at lunch), and you’ll see how unsupported the rumor mill is.
Proponents of the rumor believe that cancer is caused by a fungal infection called Candida, and that tumors are formed by the body to fight off infection. There is no evidence to support this view, however. In addition, many very healthy people are infected with Candida, it is just one of many normal microorganisms that live in our bodies. Usually, our immune system keeps Candida from making a mess, but for people with a defective immune system (such as people with AIDS), infections caused by Candida can become very serious.
Rumor has it that the cure for cancer is to inject a solution of baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) into the tumor tissue. This method cannot even cure ordinary fungal infections, let alone cancer. On the contrary, there is plenty of evidence that large doses of sodium bicarbonate solution can cause very serious and even life-threatening consequences.
Rumor #6: There is a panacea for cancer ……
From smoking marijuana to using coffee enemas, there are many videos and hearsay circulating on the internet claiming “natural” and “miracle” cures.
This phenomenon proves how important it is to publish peer-reviewed, scientifically rigorous data from laboratory studies and clinical trials. First, researchers can assess the safety and effectiveness of a cancer treatment through appropriate clinical studies. Second, publishing these data allows physicians around the world to refer to them for themselves and determine the optimal treatment plan. This is a standard that should be met for any cancer treatment.
It is not that there are no potential treatments in nature; compounds like aspirin (found in willow bark) or penicillin (from Penicillium) are natural compounds found in nature. The anti-cancer drug paclitaxel was also first extracted from the bark and needles of the Pacific yew. But that doesn’t mean you can cure cancer by chewing on the bark. Paclitaxel works because the active ingredient has been purified and clinically tested, so we know both that it is safe and effective and the dosage needed for treatment.
Cancer patients are always trying to do everything they can to treat their disease, and this desperation is completely understandable. However, we suggest that people should be wary of any treatment that is advertised as “miraculous,” especially if they are trying to sell it to you.
Wikipedia has a list of treatments that supposedly “work wonders” but actually don’t work at all, and it’s well worth a look. For more on cannabis, cannabinoids and cancer, see this more detailed article.
Rumor #7: …… but those wonderful drugs are being suppressed by big pharma
A frequently cited idea, along with the earlier rumor, is that governments, pharmaceutical companies, and even charities are secretly colluding to keep people from being told about cancer treatments that really work because the available treatments allow them to make huge profits.
Regardless of the so-called “effective cancer treatment” given in the rumor, the logic behind it is the same – the treatment is effective and cheap but cannot be patented, so the medical institutions do not publish it for their own financial benefit. The logic is the same – the treatment is effective, inexpensive but unpatentable, so the medical establishment does not publish it for their own financial gain. But as we’ve written before, there’s no conspiracy here, it’s purely because the method just doesn’t work.
It just doesn’t make sense to say that a potential treatment is being suppressed by the pharmaceutical companies. For these companies, finding a highly effective treatment could be very profitable for them. And the argument that the treatment is unpatentable doesn’t hold water. Pharmaceutical companies are not stupid, if a treatment works, they will immediately rush to get a piece of the pie. There is always a way to repackage a drug molecule to get a patent, and if it turns out to be effective, it will help the pharmaceutical companies recoup their investment in R&D and clinical trials (which could run into millions of pounds).
It is important to remember that even politicians and pharmaceutical executives cannot escape cancer, and that we are all the same human beings in this regard. People working for pharmaceutical companies, governments, charities or other medical institutions can and do die from cancer.
At cancer research centers, we have witnessed our own loved ones and colleagues develop cancer. Some have survived, some have not. It is not only absurd to say that someone or an entire research center is hiding the cure for cancer.
Rumor 8: More people die from cancer treatments than from cancer directly
To clarify, whether it’s chemotherapy, radiation or surgery, it’s not something to be taken lightly and the side effects of treatment can be very serious. After all, the methods used to kill cancer cells inevitably affect normal cells as well.
Unfortunately, treatment is not always successful either. Curing patients with advanced cancer is very difficult because the cancer has spread throughout the body by this time. Although cancer treatment can reduce symptoms and prolong the patient’s life, it is unlikely to “cure” advanced cancer. If detected early, surgery is still the most effective treatment for cancer. Radiation therapy, on the other hand, saves more people than anti-cancer drugs. But chemotherapy and other anti-cancer drugs still play an important role in cancer treatment, sometimes to treat the cancer itself and sometimes to help extend life.
There are a growing number of cases that demonstrate the effectiveness of anti-cancer drugs in the treatment of cancer. For example, the cure rate for testicular cancer has increased from less than 70 percent in the 1970s to 96 percent today because of the anti-cancer drug cisplatin, while chemotherapy has increased the cure rate for children with cancer from about 25 percent in the 1960s to 75 percent today.
We still have a long way to go to find a cure for all types of cancer, which requires realistic and honest judgment by doctors, patients and patients’ families about the best treatment options for cancer, especially for patients with advanced cancer.
Rumor 9: We are not making any progress in curing cancer
This is completely false. Because of advances in treatment, long-term survival rates (over 10 years) for cancer patients in the UK have doubled in the last 40 years, while mortality rates have fallen by 10% in the last 10 years. Our chief clinician, Peter Johnson, is a leading expert in the field. This article by Professor Peter Johnson gives some important facts about cancer cure rates.
There was a documentary: “The Enemy Within: 50 years of fighting cancer” (The Enemy Within: 50 yearssfightingcancer). The film details how far we’ve come in cancer treatment over the years, from early chemotherapy in the 1950s and 1960s to the latest drugs and radiation therapy that target cancer cells for removal.
There is still a long road ahead. Some cancers have been slow to progress in treatment research, such as lung, brain, pancreatic and esophageal cancers. When your loved one leaves you because of cancer, you may feel that medicine has nothing to offer in treating cancer. That’s why we hope to overcome cancer as soon as possible, so that people will not be killed by cancer anymore.
Rumor 10: Sharks don’t get cancer
Needless to say, there are many animals in the world that do not have cancer, but certainly not large animals like sharks.