Cancer is not a terminal disease

  At present, cancer has become a common and frequent disease in the world, and according to the statistics in 1999, about 45% of cancers in the world can be cured clinically (meaning healthy survival for more than 5 years without recurrence).  Since 2005, cancer has been the first cause of death in China, accounting for 24% in rural areas and about 29% in urban areas, and since 2009, it has also jumped to the first place in Qingdao, accounting for about 29% of all causes of death. The overall cure rate of cancer patients in China is about 25%, and it reaches 50% in developed regions such as Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai and Guangzhou, and the efficacy level in Qingdao is comparable to that in developed regions. Among them, the cure rate of most early cancers such as breast cancer, stomach cancer, intestinal cancer, nasopharyngeal cancer, etc. reaches over 90%. In recent years, with the introduction of a large number of high technology and drugs, the curative effect of some middle and late stage cancer patients has also been greatly improved.  Although there is still a long way to go before cancer is completely conquered, cancer is no longer considered a terminal disease, or at least a “partially curable disease” (in the words of the famous liver cancer expert, Academician Tang Zhaoyou), after all, there are still a considerable number of patients who have been well controlled after comprehensive treatment, and some of them have been cured. In the face of cancer, we should understand it correctly, pay enough attention to it, and treat it actively, instead of being disordered by fear.