According to legend, Achilles, the hero of Homer’s epic, was immersed in the river Styx since childhood, and was invulnerable to swords and spears, and had the courage of a thousand men, but his heel was the most vulnerable place, the only “dead spot” in his body. When he grew up, Achilles fought bravely, but was killed by an arrow from Apollo, the sun god, in his heel. Cancer, i.e. malignant tumor, is a persistent disease recognized in the medical field. The concept of cancer is a new organism formed by the abnormal proliferation of cells in local tissues under the action of various tumor-causing factors. In short, it is the abnormal growth of normal cells in the human body. Advanced cancer is usually regarded as a terminal disease with a short survival cycle and no cure is available. At this stage, cancer has become the leading cause of death among urban residents in China. The incidence rate of malignant tumors in urban men has increased by 23.7% and that of urban women has increased by 27% in 10 years. So, is there really nothing we can do about cancer? Where is the “Achilles’ heel” of cancer? The way to fight against cancer: if righteousness exists inside, evil will not dry up. If the righteousness exists within, the evil cannot dry up.” It means that if our internal organs function normally and our resistance is strong, diseases cannot invade our body. The same is true for cancer prevention. Taking care of our body and practicing good lifestyle habits can help us reduce the risk of cancer and keep away from cancer. Recently, the American Cancer Society (ACS), the World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF) and the National Cancer Institute (AICR) have formulated several healthy lifestyles for cancer prevention, including: weight control, aerobic exercise for at least 30 minutes a day; less sugary drinks and less alcohol. Avoid a high-calorie diet and eat more vegetables, fruits, whole grains and legumes; limit the intake of deeply processed meat products and tobacco. In addition, smoking is closely related to the development of tumors, and quitting smoking for all people can reduce the incidence of cancer by about 1/3. External environmental factors are also important factors contributing to the development of cancer. The road to fighting cancer: A thousand miles to find him Indian-American doctor Siddhartha Mukherjee’s book “The King of All Diseases” mentioned that the earliest record of breast cancer appeared in 2625 B.C. in the pen of the great ancient Egyptian physician Indo-Hotep, and under “treatment”, he only wrote a short sentence There is no cure. In the long history of mankind’s fight against cancer, after thousands of years of precipitation, surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy have been regarded as the three major traditional methods to fight cancer. However, each of the three has its own drawbacks. Surgery can only cure early-stage patients, and for advanced patients with extensive metastases, surgery cannot be performed. And radiotherapy can only control tumor for a short period of time and prolong life. However, the side effects are large and often affect the quality of life of patients. Targeted therapy and immunotherapy, as new stars in the fight against cancer that emerged in recent years, are gradually gaining global attention. Unlike traditional chemotherapy, small molecule targeted therapies usually require only daily oral medication for long-term cancer control, with fewer side effects and high patient acceptance and recognition. However, targeted therapy varies greatly among individuals and requires the identification of the “target” – that is, the specific gene mutation site. Usually, a small portion of the tumor is removed for mutation testing, and the appropriate target drug is selected according to the type of mutation. In terms of immunotherapy, at the annual meeting of American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) this year, immune checkpoint inhibitors, mainly PD-1 and PD-L1 inhibitors, made a big splash. Combined with the various “vaccines” and cellular therapies, immunotherapy is expected to be the future direction of cancer treatment.