“Cancer is an incurable disease!” This is the vast majority of people’s perception of cancer nowadays. This perception has a very wide and deep impact. However, if someone tells you that cancer is not scary, like high blood pressure and diabetes, it is only a chronic disease; that cancer is not incurable, that many cancers can be cured, that many cancers can “live peacefully” with you; and that the key to prevent cancer is actually in your own hands – will you believe it? -Will you believe it? To dispel people’s fear and misunderstanding of cancer For a long time, in people’s mind, the word cancer is basically equated with death, and even more terrible than death. After cancer is diagnosed, every inch of time is like a countdown to life, and this period is full of fear and despair. The high cost of radiotherapy, chemotherapy, surgery and all kinds of treatment has caused many families to become poor and return to poverty due to the disease, leaving them empty. For a long time, due to the limited treatment methods and treatment effects, and the lack of awareness of cancer, this physical disease has turned into a mental disease: fear, loneliness and despair. In addition, China’s social psychology of “keeping diseases secret” for thousands of years has intensified the spiritual damage of this physical disease. When one thinks of cancer, almost everyone can’t help but associate it with a bleak picture. So much so that many cancer patients do not die from the disease, but are crushed by this great fear. The fear of cancer has become a kind of social public psychology. However, did you ever know that these deep-rooted perceptions about cancer are actually incorrect! Chinese people’s fear and misunderstanding of cancer are too deep and too long. It is time to remove people’s misunderstanding and to free people from their fear of cancer. China, needs to have a cancer awareness***. Let the following 4 subversive new understandings about cancer clear your gloom! Cancer is a commonly occurring disease, a common disease that comes with aging, and it can even be said – cancer is also a part of life “How come I am so unlucky? How come fate is so unfair to me!” Once one has cancer, one would first of all feel that one is a particularly unfortunate person, and that millions of people in life have nothing to do with cancer, so why is it that one is “favored” by cancer? In fact, the occurrence of tumor is much more common than people think. As early as the late 1980s, medical experts in the United States reported that among the autopsies of elderly people aged 80 or above, about 1/4 of them had tumors in their bodies, but none of them had any symptoms related to cancer before they died. Their death was also due to other diseases or causes. In other words, it is quite natural for tumors to appear in the body of elderly people. Recently, Professor Huang Huapeng, a returnee scholar in Europe who is engaged in immunology research, complained that he had autopsied nearly 200 cases of cadavers every year, and all of them, without exception, had insidious, asymptomatic tumors in the bodies of elderly people around 80 years old. He also predicted that if the average life expectancy of a person reaches 100-120 years, there will be 3-4 tumors in each person’s body! Experts from the National Center for Disease Control predict that, assuming a life expectancy of 90 years for U.S. citizens, 47% of men and 32% of women will develop cancer. The incidence of tumors is so high, but in most cases, these tumors do not threaten the quality of life of the elderly, or even under certain conditions, do not affect the duration of their survival. The proportion of new cancer patients in both the Shanghai area and the United States is about 3 per 1,000 of the total population each year. If the average life expectancy of a person is 80 years, the chance of developing a tumor during his 80-year career is: 80 x 3/1000 = 240/1000, or 24/100. In other words, about 1/4 of the people will seek treatment for cancer during their lifetime. This could not be clearer than to show that cancer is actually a common disease that comes with aging. In this regard, Professor He Yumin of Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, president of the Chinese Medical Association’s Society of Mind and Body, told reporters that, in essence, the tumor that occurs in most elderly people is a physiological deviation that is unavoidable along with the aging process of the body, just like the elderly will have osteoporosis and brain tissue will degenerate (progeria). The older we get, the more cells replicate, the higher the probability of deviation. In addition, the functions of the immune surveillance, recognition and cleaning system of the elderly are weakened with aging, and the deviations increase. Therefore, the abnormal differentiation of cancer cells is difficult to be recognized and removed in time, which also contributes to this consequence. Since cancer is so common, we can even consider cancer as an important mechanism for nature to regulate human life and keep it in balance without serious imbalance, said Prof. Yu-Min Ho. Cancer, like other diseases, is a part of life. In fact, this is very similar to the American attitude towards diseases. Many Americans believe that getting a disease, whether it is the usual cold or cancer, is part of a person’s life and should be treated with a normal mindset. Like hypertension and diabetes – cancer is only a chronic disease On the issue of how to view cancer, Professor Yu-Min Ho recalled a memorable conversation with his Taiwanese counterpart. Around 2000, when Professor He was the director of the Institute of Traditional Chinese Medicine, a Taiwanese oncology colleague visited him and we had a good conversation. When the conversation was in high spirits, the doctor from Taiwan said, “Cancer is just a chronic disease,” “a chronic disease that can be cured.” Such an assertion made Professor Ho stare at that moment. He continued, “Isn’t it? I have many patients on hand who have lived past five years and are doing well!” Professor Ho quickly responded: “Yes, at least 70% of my patients have lived beyond 5 years, and the total number of patients is in the thousands! What is this if not a chronic disease? Moreover, these patients were all “death row” patients who were sentenced to live only a few months to a year, but now they are all alive and well! Then, the two of them got energized and exchanged many examples together. They agreed that for most tumor patients, what they suffer from is just a chronic disease like coronary heart disease and hypertension, which is more difficult to treat, but not incurable. This colleague even determined that malignant tumors are sometimes much better than coronary heart disease and diabetes. Many tumor patients can be completely stable or even cured after 5 years, and no longer need regular medication. In contrast, coronary heart disease, diabetes and hypertension can only be treated with lifelong medication. As a result of such a pleasant exchange and the new understanding of cancer constantly expressed by some important medical figures or organizations, Professor He Yumin expressed such a subversive new view on different occasions: “For the elderly, cancer is nothing but a chronic disease.” Professor Ho pointed out that cancer is a physiological abnormality, or physiological process, that is unavoidable in the aging process, just like aging. This is because there were overseas autopsy reports at that time suggesting that the chance of malignant tumors among the elderly over 80 years old was high, and that 1/4 of the elderly had cancer without any discomfort and died from factors other than cancer. Moreover, since the older a person is, the slower the natural development of tumor and the less threatening and harmful it is, it is not only a chronic disease for elderly tumor patients, but also the risk is lower the older they get. The occurrence of cancer is a chronic process Modern research confirms that the occurrence of cancer is a long-term and gradual process that goes through multiple stages. It usually takes 10 to 20 years, or even longer, to evolve from normal cells to cancer cells and then to form tumors. Cancer only occurs when risk factors severely damage the body’s defense system, repair capacity is reduced, and intracellular genetic variants accumulate to a certain level. Therefore, although the majority of cancer patients will have progressive development, like most chronic diseases, there is a long latent period where no attack will occur in a short period of time, and there is a long developmental process from attack to death. And with early detection and early treatment, cancer patients do not go to death rapidly. We have every reason to believe that treating cancer as a chronic disease is theoretically justified and clinically feasible. Moreover, the term “cancer” as we know it does not represent a single disease, but is actually a collective term for more than 200 diseases. Not all cancers are life-threatening; some of them are serious, but some (or most) are not life-threatening. Some of them are serious, but some (or most) are not life-threatening. Take prostate cancer, for example. According to Albertson’s research, the vast majority of patients survive for more than 20 years, even without treatment for it. The World Health Organization’s new definition of “cancer as a chronic disease” has also gained international recognition. Since 2006, the World Health Organization (WHO) and other international authorities have changed their minds and redefined cancer as an incurable disease as a chronic disease that can be treated, controlled and even cured. Academician Sun Yan, a senior medical oncologist of the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, has pointed out clearly that “in fact, for ordinary people, more and more cancers in the future may be just like diabetes, which is just an ordinary chronic disease. As long as prevention is strengthened, early detection and early treatment, coupled with new drugs that are more and more ‘on target’, cancer is not that scary.” Cancer is just a chronic disease! This is a complete reversal of the old understanding that “cancer is an incurable disease” and “cancer is equal to death”. In the past, a large proportion of patients died due to mental breakdown or pursuing excessive treatment due to misleading views. Today, we should accept and disseminate this correct concept with integrity, and get rid of the psychological burden of cancer fear! Cancer treatment is not a duel of “either you die or I die”, but a strategy of long-term coexistence with cancer – the battle against cancer requires a new thinking. The soldiers in the front line can only maintain a brave posture, they have to fight with a will of steel and flesh and blood, there is no room for any compassion or mercy, there is only the struggle of life and death. But the realm of the general is very different, they “feather fan, talk and laugh between the boom and smoke”, open and shut, the enemy and friends are not constant, a while as a tiger and lion, forcing his subordinates to take a strategic advantage at all costs; a while and “bodhisattva face”. He is like a tiger and a lion, forcing his subordinates to take a strategic position at all costs; and then he is a “bodhisattva”, talking without fighting, surrounding without annihilating, and yielding without fighting. If we consider the battle between human beings and cancer as a war, what we need is the general’s concept of the big picture, not the soldier’s courage. The cost of recklessness In the treatment of cancer nowadays, as long as the patient still has a breath, he or she will use all means such as surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy to “kill” all cancer cells regardless of the high medical expenses. People are also paying a heavy price for reckless and reckless over-intervention. For example, the misuse of antibiotics, excessive chemotherapy and radiotherapy, and the undignified death process by various medical devices and drugs. Many patients with mid- to late-stage cancer not only fail to prolong their lives after over-treatment, but also spend the rest of their lives in great pain. What is even heavier is that in order to save lives, some patients’ families or even entire families have lost their families’ money, and eventually patients leave with a sense of guilt, leaving a heavy financial burden to their loved ones. If the patient’s quality of life is not effectively improved by the treatment, but worsened instead; and the survival period is not prolonged by the treatment, then why should the patient end up with no money for the treatment? While we are driving away and killing cancer cells, we are often creating new and heavier pain. We are driving away death, but we are also driving away the peace and tranquility at the end of life, making the way to heaven and hell full of fear. Such a treatment concept is similar to the front-line fighters’ brave and deadly struggle in war, but it is not the best way to fight, not the result we want. In the battle against cancer, we need to give up some “warrior thinking” and absorb more “general thinking”. In other words, we need to move away from the “zero-sum” game of “you die, I live” and pursue the idea that you are under effective control and I am still alive and well! As long as the cancer cells in the body do not develop further, we can “live in peace” with it and “live with cancer”. It is not necessary to kill all the cancer cells, so that you and I can live. Imagine an 80-year-old man with advanced cancer, who has little hope of cure, but has to undergo high-dose chemotherapy, which often results in money spent, suffering and loss of life. Instead of this, conservative treatment is better to reduce the pain and improve the quality of life. There are thousands of clinical cases of cancer patients who cannot be said to have no cancer in their bodies, but perhaps the examination indicates that cancer still exists in their bodies, only that it is very stable and has not developed over the years. At the same time, they are living a good life and quality of life! Can we say that this is not a great success? At least these patients themselves consider themselves as lucky and successful in the process of fighting cancer. In recent years, the starting point of developing oncology drugs has also undergone an obvious change, from the previous keenness to reduce and destroy cancer cells to inhibit the growth of cancer cells, among which targeted drugs in medical oncology have emerged even more, acting accurately on cancer cells through precise targeted therapy, blocking tumor growth channels, inhibiting the proliferation of cancer cells, reducing the damage to the organism, so that patients will have no adverse effects on the overall quality of life, and will The disease can be stabilized for a longer period of time without any adverse effect on the overall quality of life, and the patients can live as happily as many patients with chronic diseases. In conclusion, the treatment of middle and late stage elderly cancer patients should focus on mobilizing the positive factors of the patients themselves, inhibiting tumor development, reducing pain and improving quality of life. To let cancer patients have the same diet and living as normal people, stabilize their condition, survive for 5 or 10 years, and “peacefully coexist” with cancer, or even gradually recover, is not only maximizing the long-term benefits of patients. “The key to cancer prevention lies in your own hands. Recently, the International Union Against Cancer (UICC) announced the results of a worldwide survey at the International Congress of Oncology held in Geneva. The results show that people have many misconceptions about cancer. Myth 1: Underestimating the carcinogenic effect of alcohol. The international survey, which included 29,925 adult participants in 29 countries, showed that people tend to underestimate the carcinogenic effects of alcohol, with 42 percent believing that drinking alcohol does not increase the risk of cancer. In high-income countries, 59% of people believe that inadequate intake of fruits and vegetables is more dangerous than excessive alcohol consumption. In fact, research results show that the protective effect of vegetables and fruits is less than the harmful effect of alcohol. Myth 2: The harmful effects of mental stress and air pollution are exaggerated. The survey also shows that 57% of people believe that mental stress has a stronger cancer-causing effect than alcohol, and 78% of people believe that air pollution is a stronger cancer-causing risk factor than alcohol. In fact, there is no evidence that mental stress is a risk factor for cancer; air pollution is only a weaker risk factor compared to excessive alcohol consumption. These two seemingly common findings reflect a huge misunderstanding of cancer. According to Hill, the President-elect of the International Union Against Cancer, people generally attribute the cause of cancer to factors beyond their control, exaggerating the carcinogenic effect of environmental factors (life stress, air pollution, etc.) and underestimating the risk of cancer caused by behavioral factors (excessive alcohol consumption, obesity). Through health education in these years, people have generally recognized the hazards of alcohol and tobacco. However, there are still a considerable proportion of people who take drinking as a kind of spontaneity and smoking as a kind of grandeur, and even put forward the fallacy that drinking and smoking are still long-lived. Most people ignore the fact that cancer is not unpreventable. Your daily behavior is an important determinant of whether you will get cancer or not. A healthy lifestyle is the golden key to prevent cancer! One less cigarette, one less drink, balanced diet and proper exercise – it is as simple as that to prevent cancer.