Having worked in oncology for many years, I often encounter patients and acquaintances who ask: Can cancer be cured? How long can I live with cancer? Many people will be scared at the mention of cancer, if cancer unfortunately comes to their head, it is as if they have been sentenced to death, and they are in fear all day long. There is a kind of saying that many cancer patients are scared to death, and after reading the following article, you must feel that this is really true. Cancer is only a chronic disease First of all, tell you a reality: cancer is not far away from you and me. It is a heavy topic, but we have to face it. As the average life expectancy increases, the pace of life accelerates, lifestyle changes, etc., the probability of human beings having cancer will rise. The U.S. National Center for Disease Control, which is a very authoritative organization, has experts predicting that if the average American lives to 90 years, then 47% of U.S. male citizens will eventually die from tumors, and 32% of female citizens will eventually die from tumors. Of course, this is not necessarily a bad thing, because it is a law that with life comes death. It has been predicted that one third of a person’s life may at some point seek medical help for cancer. I would like to emphasize in particular that there is no need to be pessimistic because cancer, like coronary heart disease, diabetes and high blood pressure, is a kind of chronic damage that will occur sooner or later along with aging, and it is a chronic disease. “Fear of cancer” is the crux of the matter In fact, cancer is related to our own behavior. It has to do with the way of living, which needs to be adjusted. Let me tell you the good news first. 2005 is a turning point in the history of human cancer control. We used to have a saying that “nine out of ten cancers are buried, and one is not cancer”. It is this culture of fear of cancer that has led to the disturbing situation of Chinese people living with cancer. However, in foreign countries, through decades of efforts and reflections, the prevention and treatment of cancer, especially the treatment of cancer, has taken a turn, and this turn deserves our attention. 2006 June held in Atlanta, the United States in the National Oncology Conference announced a fact: in 2005, for the first time in the United States, the number of deaths due to cancer was less than that of 2004, and the number of deaths due to cancer in the United States was less than that of 2004, and the number of deaths due to cancer was less than that of 2004 for the first time. Please note that in the United States, since the 1930s, when statistics on the incidence and deaths of cancer were compiled, the number of cases and deaths had been on the rise every year. However, a turnaround took place in 2005, when the number of deaths dropped even though the number of incidence cases was still on the rise. This shows that many people had cancer but survived, which prompted people to begin to re-conceptualize cancer. Tumor elimination is not the goal Many patients are very focused on whether the tumor is completely gone, whether there are still tumor cells in my body? In fact, it is sometimes important to keep the tumor stable and unchanged. Coronary heart disease, diabetes mellitus, hypertension, once diagnosed, the disease will be like a shadow, accompanied by lifelong, poor control will also be life-threatening, but people’s fear of them is far less than cancer. In fact, cancer is also like these chronic diseases, as long as the control is appropriate, even if it does not go away, the same can be a long-term survival. Nowadays, with the continuous emergence of therapeutic drugs and the updating of auxiliary therapeutic drugs, the response of treatment is gradually reduced, and the treatment of tumor does not make people “live and die”, so we should not talk about “cancer” to cancer any more.