What is a tumor and is it the same thing as cancer? Can cancer be prevented? Should I tell my friends and relatives that they have cancer? After coming out from the movie theater, many people’s minds are full of question marks. 7 misunderstandings about “tumor” Misunderstanding 1: Tumor and cancer are the same thing The famous American director Woody Allen said, “The most beautiful words in the world are not that I love you, but that your tumor is benign.” “Tumor is divided into two categories: benign tumor and malignant tumor, and what people often call “cancer” is actually a kind of malignant tumor. The characteristics of benign tumors are that they do not metastasize, grow slowly, and are relatively less harmful to the body. Common benign tumors include liver cysts, lipomas, breast fibroids and so on. Malignant tumors have the characteristics of spreading, infiltrating and metastasizing to the periphery without restriction, which are quite harmful to the body. The common ones are liver cancer, lung cancer, colorectal cancer, etc. Therefore, not all tumors will necessarily cause great harm to the body. It is worth noting that some benign tumors have the possibility of transforming to malignant, such as fibrocystic hyperplasia of breast (commonly known as mastocytosis), colon polyps, etc. Some cancers, such as thyroid cancer, have a better prognosis, and with the rapid development of medical treatment, malignant tumors are no longer incurable to some extent. Misunderstanding 2: Cancer is not preventable According to the World Cancer Report released by the World Health Organization, cancer has become the biggest cause of death for human beings worldwide. Cancer refers to the overgrowth of individual cells in our body due to genetic mutation under normal circumstances. But fortunately, our body has a strong defense system, the immune system, which can identify and destroy these abnormal cells in time to prevent cancer from occurring. When the body’s immune system is compromised, it gives the genetically mutated cancer cells a chance to take advantage of the situation and develop into cancer. Thus, the immune system plays a vital role in cancer prevention. There are many factors to maintain a healthy and strong immune system, such as diet and nutrition, physical exercise, emotional regulation, work pace, interpersonal relationship, living environment, etc. Misunderstanding 3: Physical examination can ensure timely detection of cancer The results of physical examination can reflect the health condition within a certain period of time, but the results of blood tests change frequently, sometimes the results are different within a day, and the results of imaging tests also have a certain “validity period”. Many early symptoms of cancer are not obvious and do not attract people’s attention. By the time the discomfort becomes obvious, the cancer is often already in the middle to late stage and the best time for treatment is missed. Therefore, for some high-risk people, such as those with multiple malignant tumors in their family, the interval of routine medical checkups should be shortened, preferably once every six months, or specific medical examinations should be conducted for these risk factors for early detection. For example, for people who smoke and drink alcohol all the time and have lung cancer or liver tumor in their family, it is not enough to take X-ray or do B-ultrasound, but better to do a spiral CT or enhanced CT for more accurate examination. Misunderstanding 4: Eating garlic, scallions and mushrooms does not prevent cancer Garlic and other onion plants are often included in the list of recommended vegetables that can reduce cancer risk. Garlic and scallions do have good anti-cancer effects, and people who love garlic and scallions have a lower risk of developing cancers such as colorectal, ovarian and throat cancers. In the early stages of cancer, eating mushrooms has a certain anti-cancer effect. This is because mushrooms contain not only polysaccharides but also double-stranded ribonucleic acid, an inducer of interferon, which can enter cancer cells and inhibit their proliferation. Consistent consumption of mushrooms after surgery for various types of cancer helps prevent the metastasis of cancer cells. However, it must be noted that there is no single factor that triggers cancer, and regular consumption of garlic, onions and mushrooms is good for the body but does not necessarily guarantee the absence of cancer. A balanced diet is the only way to be healthy. Misunderstanding 5: Cancer is equal to terminal illness “Tumor” has a strong deterrent effect, and many people associate it with incurable diseases. Once cancer is diagnosed, some patients’ spirits are immediately broken and family members are often overwhelmed. In fact, quite a number of cancers are treatable and even curable. For example, the cure rate of lung cancer is less than 10% if it is found in the middle or late stage, but the cure rate can reach 90% if it is in the early stage. With the rapid development of medical science, new treatment measures have been introduced, especially the emergence of gene therapy and molecular targeted therapy, which enable some patients with otherwise untreatable cancers to receive effective treatment or live with tumors for a long time. The statistical results of the 2014 Beijing Health White Paper show that the 5-year survival rate of lymphoma patients in Beijing is 38.57%. Beijing University Cancer Hospital treated 1911 cases of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma patients from 1995 to 2012, and the 5-year survival rate was as high as 52.98%, and the 10-year survival rate was also as high as 42.45%. Once you are targeted by “tumor king”, you should go to regular hospital for standardized treatment in time, so as to achieve ideal treatment effect. Misunderstanding 6: Tumors can be starved to death Tumors can keep spreading and eventually take patients’ lives because they seem to be able to make their own new blood vessels in human body for them to draw oxygen and nutrients. Therefore, it has been hypothesized that if the tumor’s ability to create blood vessels is abolished and it is “starved to death”, the tumor can be slowed down or even stopped from spreading. Tumor patients often have a great concern: they are afraid to take more “supplements” for fear that nutrition will promote tumor growth. Some even hope to starve the tumor to death through starvation. However, if patients do not have enough nutrition support, normal cells cannot play their physiological functions, while tumor cells will still plunder the nutrition of normal cells, and as a result, only the patient will die of starvation instead of tumor cells. Moreover, malnourished people are more likely to develop tumors, and have more complications, lower quality of life, poorer clinical prognosis and shorter survival time. Therefore, for cancer patients, nutritional support should be their basic treatment measure. Misunderstanding 7: Cancer tends to be younger Young singer Yao Beina and cartoonist Bearden were killed by cancer in their best years; Deng Minghe, who was only eight years old and had appeared on CCTV Spring Festival Gala for two consecutive years, also passed away prematurely due to leukemia, which makes many people very worried about the trend of cancer incidence at a younger age. In fact, the incidence of cancer in China is not trending younger. For example, the average age of lung cancer patients reaches 71 years old; breast cancer patients have a peak at the age of 30-40 years old and a peak after 60 years old; liver cancer and stomach cancer patients are mostly after 60 years old. After watching the movie, Dr. Liang, starring Daniel Wu, said to Bearden a sentence that many people find very handsome: “I am responsible for treating the disease, and you are responsible for believing in me”. Indeed, the “tumor king” is very cunning and requires mutual cooperation between doctors and patients to overcome it. For example, there are more than seventy pathological types of lymphoma, and the principles of treatment for different types of lymphoma are different. If the patient and the doctor cannot trust each other and work together, it is likely that the disease will take advantage of the opportunity to make trouble. In the movie, Bearden lost his job because of his strange boss, and lost his love when his boyfriend cheated on him, and after his 29th birthday party, Bearden suddenly fainted and was sent to the hospital. There is a scene in the film: Bearden’s friends learned from the doctor that Bearden was suffering from lymphoma, and argued over whether to tell Bearden, and before we finished the discussion, Bearden accidentally learned the news. What should we do if we really have relatives and friends around us who are in this situation? Keep it to ourselves or just tell them? Some people are afraid that the patient will not be able to bear the result if he/she knows the result and accelerate the deterioration of his/her condition. Some think: the patient knows his or her condition and can participate in the treatment decision, which is beneficial to the treatment. In modern society, concealing a medical condition is not an easy thing to do. Young patients and knowledgeable patients can learn about their condition with the help of the Internet. Moreover, patients are very sensitive, the unnatural expressions of friends and relatives, sudden changes in attitude, etc. can also make patients suspect that they have a terminal illness, and are more likely to be imaginative. According to a study in Taiwan, 90% of cancer patients want to know the truth about their diagnosis. In fact, patients are more tolerant of bad news than we think. She not only cooperates with the treatment with a positive attitude, but also presents her feelings during her illness in the form of cartoons, so that more people can see the “tumor king” clearly. With the continuous progress of medical treatment, cancer patients are capable of making the original terrible “tumor king” go away. Of course, not all patients can be as open-minded as Bearden to face the “tumor king”, and it takes good timing and skills to tell patients bad news, especially considering patients’ personality characteristics. Many people who have cancer have a “cancer personality”, and there are two forms of expression: one is introverted and depressed, like to sulk, delicate feelings but not very good at interaction and expression of emotions, often see the dark side of the problem, not easy to come out from the predicament; the other is cheerful on the outside, but the inner pressure, difficulties and psychological problems do not like to confide in. The other type is cheerful on the outside, but stressed on the inside, not willing to talk about difficulties and psychological problems, the so-called “boredom”. When telling these patients bad news, we should be prepared to go through the most difficult period together. At the same time, we should try to discover the “good news” in the “bad news” of cancer, for example, tell patients that “although they have cancer, the good thing is that it is not advanced and can be cured”, so as to help them get through the psychological “shock period”. For example, tell the patient that “although cancer is not advanced, it can be cured”, so as to help the patient get through the psychological “shock period” and inspire his confidence to overcome cancer.