Nowadays, many people equate tumor with terminal disease when they hear about it, and there are many factors playing a role in this. Many patients are not clear about the concept of tumor. Therefore, in order to eliminate the psychology of “tumor-phobia”, we should first clarify some basic concepts of tumor and common medical terms. A. Basic concept of tumor A tumor is a new organism formed by the long-term synergistic effect of tumor-causing factors in and out of the body, resulting in gene mutation and abnormal regulation of gene function, thus promoting continuous overproliferation of cells and cell transformation. The naming of tumor is complicated, but the naming rules often include several basic elements: the site and organ where the tumor occurs, the tissue where the tumor occurs, and benign and malignant terms. Malignant tumor is what common people call “cancer”, but in professional medical naming, we only call malignant tumor from epithelial tissue as cancer, which accounts for about 90% of malignant tumors, and some malignant tumors from non-epithelial tissue, such as from mesenchymal tissue as “sarcoma”. sarcoma”. Benign tumors are often called “tumors”, such as lipomas and hemangiomas, but some malignant tumors also retain the name of “tumors”, such as lymphomas and seminoma. There is a big difference between benign tumors and malignant tumors, one very important point is that benign tumors do not metastasize and do not recur after complete resection. In addition, in some examination reports, we often see the description of “occupying lesion”. The term “occupying lesion” is a term used in medical diagnostic imaging, which usually appears in the results of X-ray, ultrasound, CT, MRI and other examinations. It means that there is an “extra something” in the examined area, and occupying lesions can include tumors (benign and malignant) and non-tumor lesions (cysts, abscesses, stones, hematomas, etc.), so it is not a clinical diagnosis term, but only a descriptive language. The question of what the nature of the occupying lesion is must be made by the clinician through a comprehensive analysis in combination with medical history, physical examination and other selective examinations to make a correct diagnosis. As long as the cause is identified, the corresponding treatment measures can be applied. Therefore, in terms of the categories included in the concept, occupying lesion > tumor > malignant tumor > cancer. A preliminary understanding of the concepts included in these medical terms can help to alleviate unnecessary psychological panic during the consultation process to a certain extent. Early diagnosis and treatment of cancer is the key In our impression, cancer patients are incurable, but in fact, if cancer can be detected and diagnosed early, most patients can be cured, and most of the patients seen in clinic are already at advanced stage when they are seen. Therefore, early diagnosis and treatment of cancer is one of the important ways to improve the eradication rate of cancer. In the early stage of cancer, there are often no special symptoms or even no disease, so patients will not take the initiative to go to the hospital for examination, and once the state is obvious, it is often too late. In fact, some symptoms and signs may be related to early cancer, which can be called “early signs” or “warnings”. In addition to the government’s attention and medical personnel’s screening, early detection of cancer also depends on patients’ vigilance, self-examination and self-discovery. The following five aspects can help improve the early diagnosis and treatment of cancer. Eight warning signs The World Health Organization (WHO) has proposed the following “eight warning signs” as reference for people to consider the early signs of cancer. 1.Palpable hard nodes or hard changes, such as those found on the breast, skin and tongue; 2.Warts (superfluous tumors) or moles with obvious changes; 3.Persistent abnormal digestion; 4.Persistent hoarseness, dry cough and difficulty in swallowing; 5.Unusual menstrual period, heavy bleeding, extra-menstrual bleeding; 6.Unexplained bleeding from nose, ear, bladder or intestines; 7.Wounds that do not heal, swelling that does not go away; 8.Unexplained weight loss. The weight loss. According to the situation in China, the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences has proposed the following ten symptoms as warning signs to draw people’s attention to cancer: 1. lumps on any part of the body, such as breast, neck or abdomen, especially those that gradually increase in size; 2. ulcers on any part of the body, such as the tongue, cheek mucosa and skin without trauma, especially those that do not heal over time; 3. Irregular vaginal bleeding or discharge (commonly known as leukorrhea); 4. stuffiness, burning pain, foreign body sensation or progressive aggravation of dysphagia when eating; 5. untreated dry cough or blood in sputum; 6. long-term dyspepsia, progressive loss of appetite, wasting, and no clear cause is identified; 7. change in bowel habits or blood in stool; 8. nasal congestion, epistaxis, unilateral headache or with diplopia; 9. nevus Sudden increase in size or breakage, bleeding, loss of original hair; 10. Painless hematuria. In addition, precancerous lesions should also be considered as early signs, such as leukoplakia of mucous membranes, chronic skin ulcers, fistulas, proliferative scars (especially scars caused by chemical burns), atrophic gastritis and intestinal epithelial hyperplasia, multiple polyps of the rectum, skin keratosis (especially keratosis of the palms at the size of the fissure, cystic lobular hyperplasia of the breast, cervical erosion, cervical polyps, etc. can develop into cancer. Early signs of common cancers: 1.Esophageal cancer: foreign body sensation in swallowing; 2.Stomach cancer: decreased appetite, abdominal fullness and discomfort after eating, stomach pain; 3.Colorectal cancer: abdominal discomfort, hidden pain, bloating, change of stool habit, alternating constipation and diarrhea; 4.Liver cancer: early liver cancer has no specific symptoms, if any, it is mostly some complex manifestations of pre-cancerous diseases. However, patients with chronic hepatitis or cirrhosis should be highly alert if they have stabbing pain or increased pain in the right upper abdomen or liver area, physical discomfort, loss of appetite, progressive dyspepsia, accompanied by persistent diarrhea and significant weight loss; 5.Nasopharyngeal cancer: reabsorption of bloody sputum; 6.Lung cancer: cough, intermittent repeated small amount of bloody sputum, or sputum with blood; 7.Breast cancer: breast swelling and nipple overflow; 8. Cervical cancer: irregular vaginal bleeding. VI. Correct treatment of early signs It must be emphasized that neither the eight warning signs, the ten symptoms nor any of the early signs of cancer can be definitively diagnosed as cancer. Having one or even several of these items does not mean that the person is suffering from cancer either. These signs should not be regarded as the basis for a definite diagnosis of cancer, and one should not be in a state of fear and anxiety for the whole family. However, the warning signs and symptoms mentioned above may be early signs of certain cancers, and if they are taken lightly, the diagnosis and treatment may be delayed. The main means of early diagnosis of common cancers: 1. cervical cancer: cervical smear; 2. stomach cancer: gastroscopy; 3. colon cancer: rectal finger examination, fecal occult blood test and colonoscopy; 4. prostate cancer: rectal finger examination, prostate specific antigen test; 5. lung cancer: chest X-ray and sputum cytology; 6. breast cancer: monthly self-examination and mammography.