Malignant tumor is a disease that seriously threatens human health. The annual number of cancer incidence in China is about 1.6-2 million, and the number of cancer deaths is about 1.3 million, accounting for more than 18% of the global incidence and deaths. At present, China has become a major cancer country, and malignant tumors have been listed as the first or second cause of death in urban and rural areas. Some friends often ask me how do tumors occur? As we all know, all organs in our body are composed of cells. Cell growth and differentiation meet the needs of the body, and this orderly process keeps the body healthy. However, if cells continue to divide extraordinarily, these extra large numbers of cells form tumors. Put another way, when cells in the body undergo mutations, the cells continue to divide out of the body’s control and eventually form a tumor. A malignant tumor is what is often referred to as cancer. The cells of this malignant tumor can invade and destroy the neighboring tissues and organs. Moreover, cancer cells can penetrate out of the tumor and enter the nearby blood or lymphatic system, and then enter other parts of the body through the blood or lymphatic vessels, a process called cancer metastasis. I am often asked by patients that once I find cancer, it is not early stage and there are no symptoms. Can cancer be detected at an early stage? The answer is yes. Nowadays, people pay more and more attention to medical checkups, during which doctors can detect various diseases and abnormal masses; however, special professional examinations are needed to really clarify the nature of tumors. For example, blood and urine examination, cervical smear and stool occult blood test can detect tumor; through endoscopy to examine internal organs, it can directly enter the inside of gastrointestinal and show the examination result of tumor through images. non-invasive examination such as CT or MRI can detect tumor in internal organs and intracranial at an early stage. Early detection and early diagnosis of tumors are very beneficial to the treatment of tumors. For example, the five-year survival rate of stage I breast cancer, nasopharyngeal cancer and laryngeal cancer is close to 100%, while late stage tumors even survive less than one year. People may ask, are all the tumors we found malignant cancer? The answer is no. There are benign and malignant tumors. The difference between benign and malignant tumors is clarified step by step through various examinations. Benign tumors are characterized by tumor cells that look similar to normal cells and grow slowly in the organ or tissue where they occur, and the growth pattern is “swelling growth”. The swelling growth mentioned here means that the tumor only pushes or accumulates pressure on the surrounding normal tissues and is separated from the surrounding tissues by envelope with clear boundaries, and the growth is often “self-limiting”, that is, it has a certain self-restraint mechanism. As long as the surgery is complete and clean, the possibility of recurrence is small, and metastasis will not occur. Since benign tumors are less destructive to the body, except for those growing in critical areas (e.g. brain) or tumor cells that secrete a lot of hormones, they are generally not fatal. In contrast, malignant tumors are characterized by the difference between the morphology of tumor cells and the morphology of normal tissues, and the growth mode is “infiltrative growth”, that is, there is no obvious boundary between the tumor and the surrounding normal tissues, and there are many “crab foot-like” tumor tissues scattered on the surface of the tumor among the surrounding normal tissues. Even if the tumor is surgically removed, there is still a possibility of recurrence and metastasis of cancer. At present, there are many examination methods for tumor, the common ones are imaging examination: such as MRI, CT, radionuclide scan, ultrasound, etc. In addition, there are endoscopy, laboratory examination, pathological section examination, etc. Through the above examination, the nature of tumor can be clarified. The final characterization still needs the case to confirm the diagnosis. Viewers may ask: Why are more and more people getting cancer even though life is getting better? This statement is not accurate. There are many reasons for this impression. One is because with the development of medical science and the improvement of diagnosis and treatment technology, cancer is diagnosed more and more often. Secondly, because the average life expectancy of people has increased and tumors are more common in the elderly, the number of cancer patients has increased. Of course, it is undeniable that with the increase of environmental pollution and competitive pressure, some diseases may increase, but it is not “more and more” as we feel. Globally, the incidence of some cancers is decreasing, such as cervical cancer. What are the factors that contribute to the development of cancer? Or, what are the common causes of cancer? The following are common cancer triggering factors in life: 1. Infection with hepatitis B virus can induce liver cancer; clinically, more than half of primary liver cancer patients have a history of hepatitis, especially hepatitis B; 2. Insufficient intake of soy products and selenium in food or smoking (more than 2 packs per day for more than 10 years) can induce lung cancer; 3. Infection with human papillomavirus or insufficient intake of folic acid and vitamin C in food can induce Cervical cancer; 4. Alcohol abuse can induce throat cancer; 5. Abuse of pesticides (such as DDT) can induce breast cancer; 6. Infection with Helicobacter can induce stomach cancer; 7. Long-term mental stress can induce various cancers; 8. Insufficient intake of vitamin E in food, excessive intake of red meat (i.e. beef and mutton) (and insufficient intake of carbohydrates and fiber), lack of exercise (less than 1000 calories per week) can induce colorectal cancer; 9. 9. Long-term use of chemical hair dyes can induce lymphoma and skin cancer; 10. Excessive obesity can induce colon cancer and breast cancer; 11. Passive smoking (more than 22 years) can induce lung cancer and laryngeal cancer; 12. Long-term intake of excessive calories can induce prostate cancer; 13. Women who have never given birth are prone to breast cancer; 14. 15.People who are often exposed to asphalt are prone to skin cancer; 16.People who are often exposed to the sun and coal tar are prone to skin cancer; 17.People who are often exposed to radiation are prone to lung cancer and leukemia; 18.People who eat high salt and salty food are prone to stomach cancer; The occurrence and development of cancer is a slow process. It takes a long time to develop from the first cancer cell to a threat to human life. As long as we pay attention to some early abnormal signals, we will have enough time to detect it and treat it in time to eliminate it in the “budding” stage. How can cancer be detected at an early stage? The following conditions should be taken seriously: Weight loss: A healthy adult who notices a significant weight loss in a short period of time, such as 4~5 kg in 1-2 months, may be the first sign of a tumor in a certain part of the body, especially the early signs of stomach, esophagus, lung and pancreatic cancers. Fever: Fever is not an early sign of cancer, but a common symptom of cancer. Most cancer patients may show low fever at some time during the course of the disease; for long-term low fever and no cause can be found, the possibility of malignant tumor should be thought of. Pain: Pain is generally a common symptom in the late stage of cancer patients, but some pain may also appear in the early stage of some cancers. For example, sarcoma, early stage may manifest as muscle pain; primary and metastatic bone tumor manifests as bone pain; bladder tumor manifests as pain before urination; testicular tumor manifests as scrotal pain; oropharyngeal cancer manifests as oral pain. Uncommon bleeding and discharge: blood in stool is often an early sign of colon cancer, fecal occult blood test and rectal examination should be done; hemoptysis and blood in sputum is an alarm signal of lung cancer or respiratory tract cancer; spontaneous bleeding from nipple may be a sign of breast cancer; hematuria may be an early sign of bladder cancer; abnormal vaginal bleeding found in postmenopausal women is a warning of endometrial cancer or cervical cancer; blood in nasal mucus or post Blood in sputum is a common symptom of nasopharyngeal cancer. Change in urinary and fecal habits: Once adults with regular urinary and fecal habits are found to change, it may be an early warning signal of colon or rectal cancer. When bladder irritation symptoms such as frequent, urgent and painful urination are not acute urinary tract infection, the possibility of bladder cancer should be thought of; difficult or interrupted urination and hematuria mean prostate cancer and bladder cancer. Prolonged ulcers: Skin ulcers that do not heal for a long time often mean basal cell or squamous cell carcinoma of the skin; mouth ulcers that do not heal, especially for long-term smokers, those with mucosal erythema and leukoplakia, and those over 50 years of age, should be thought of as having oral cancer. Lumps or nodules that do not go away: breast lumps or nodules are often signs of early breast cancer; swollen and hard lymph nodes, single nodules or lumps in testicles or soft tissues, painless lumps in the neck (near the jaw angle) in nearly one-third of cases of nasopharyngeal cancer; biopsy should be done promptly when they persist and cannot be identified as benign; warts or moles on the skin are often early signs of malignancy if they have abnormalities such as deepening color, enlargement and itching. early signs of malignant changes. In conclusion, the most important thing for early detection of cancer is to raise the awareness of self-care. For example, self-examination of breast is an effective way to detect breast cancer early, and being alert to unexplained wasting, blood in stool, pain, cough and other symptoms that may not be obvious in the early stage of cancer, as well as regular medical checkups, can help in the early diagnosis of cancer. Okay, that’s all we have to say about early cancer diagnosis today, we will continue to talk about health related topics later, welcome to stay tuned, bye.