Cancer is often referred to as an incurable disease because of its ability to grow continuously, metastasize, and eventually lead to death. In other words, if the cancer cannot grow continuously and does not metastasize, it will not lead to the patient’s death. Therefore, it is not terrible to find tumor in the body, but the key is not to let it grow continuously without invasion and metastasis. Many so-called benign tumors can only grow slowly and can also be very large in size, but they do not metastasize invasively, and we can handle such patients with peace of mind, and patients often have no problem surviving for years or decades. Therefore, if we have a way to transform a cancer into a benign tumor that does not grow actively and does not invade and metastasize, then even if there is cancer in the body, it is like a benign tumor that can survive with the tumor and usually does not involve the patient’s life. It has been proved that cancer cells are derived from the mutation of normal cells in human body, which is a very long process of change. Clinically, the so-called early stage cancer or cancer without invasive metastasis can be completely cured after appropriate treatment such as surgical resection. However, this cure is just that we cannot see the lumps formed by cancer cells. In fact, even in the early stage of tumor, we can still detect micro-metastatic cancer cells in blood through fine examination such as RT-PCR, only that these cancer cells do not form tumor due to the immunity of the body and the absence of suitable environment for growth. Therefore, cancer cells may exist in the body of cancer patients before their diagnosis or after treatment, but as long as the cancer cells do not continue to grow to form clinically detectable tumors, we regard these patients as completely cured. Because these cancer cells do not grow unrestrictedly causing damage to the body’s function if there is no suitable environment and conditions for their growth. It has been proven that many of these so-called radical patients can live and work like normal people for a long time. Early stage cancer can be completely “cured”: At present, the treatment for early stage cancer or focal cancer without invasion and metastasis has basically reached a consensus, that is, to remove the tumor as much as possible to achieve the so-called radical treatment. For patients with pathologically confirmed cancer cells with lymphatic vessels, vascular infiltration or low-differentiation suspicious invasion and other so-called high-risk factors, adjuvant chemotherapy is emphasized to kill residual cancer cells as much as possible. As for such patients, the threat of cancer tumors has been basically eliminated, and at this time, even though some proliferating cells of normal tissues are mistakenly killed, it will not cause snowy results, and most patients can obtain a long-term cure. For patients with middle and late stage cancer, although the mass cannot be completely removed like early stage cancer or benign tumor, some patients have obtained better curative effect after comprehensive treatment. However, the overall treatment effect is still unsatisfactory, and some patients are sent to hospital but their disease is worse after inappropriate treatment. For tumors that cannot be cured, there are many misunderstandings in treatment concept, the biggest of which is that we know that it is impossible to eliminate tumors from our body, but we always try every possible way to kill tumors, as a result, tumors are not removed, but normal cells of human body are destroyed. At this time, the remaining tumor cells in the body become abnormally active without the body’s immune control, which can cause the disease to deteriorate suddenly. Late stage cancer does not require “lump shrinkage”: For tumors that cannot be cured, we cannot evaluate the efficacy and pursue tumor shrinkage like traditional methods, but aim at prolonging patients’ lives and improving the quality of survival. Therefore, in terms of treatment, on the one hand, it is required to ensure the normal vital function and good immunity of the body; on the other hand, it is required to promote the tumor in a dormant or inactive state, so as to obtain the chance of survival with tumor. It has been proved that many tumor patients, even in the advanced stage of tumor, can survive for a long time after proper treatment. Malignant tumors cause death mainly by robbing the body of nutrients and causing the patient to fail; or by destroying important organs and tissues causing bleeding or affecting normal physiological functions. Cancer cells are infinitely proliferating cells and need a lot of nutrition. In the past, some erroneous views thought that cancer cells can be starved to death, so they do not eat meat or other nutrients. In fact, even if the patient does not eat or drink, the cancer cells will still seize the nutrients from the body, as a result, the normal tissue cells will suffer and the patient will eventually die of wasting. An important prerequisite for “survival with tumor” is that the body should have normal psychological functions, the most important of which is to ensure the normal nutrition supply of the body, and not to hinder the normal cell metabolism because of the competition of cancer cells for food. Any kind of cancer treatment will more or less cause harm to the body. If the organism does not have sufficient preparation to carry out traumatic anti-cancer treatment rashly, it is easy to make the organism worse and even promote the deterioration of the disease. Only a well-prepared body can play a more effective role in anti-cancer treatment. Nutritional preparation is necessary for the body to fight against cancer, and the commonly used nutrients are protein, fat, carbohydrates, vitamins, trace elements, etc. Patients should be encouraged to eat more, and they can have a small number of meals. Some immunity-boosting drugs such as thymus peptide, gammaglobulin and chamomile polysaccharide can also be used. In addition, psychological preparation for fighting cancer is also important. Maintaining a good state of mind is an important guarantee for the organism to perform normal immune function. Patients should be clearly made to understand that cancer is curable in both early and late stages, and cancer is just a chronic disease. The so-called cured cancer is just a small or disappearing lump by surgery or other treatments with general clinical imaging, but cancer cells may exist for a long time before diagnosis and after treatment, and recurrence only occurs when the body’s ability to fight cancer is reduced. For advanced cancer, the so-called cancer cannot be cured only because the lumps visible in imaging examination are not eliminated clinically. Cancer cells are also normal cells that change. If they do not cause damage to the organism, such as unrestricted growth to plunder nutrition, invade important organs to cause bleeding or obstruct organ functions (so-called malignant behavior), then even if the organism has a lump, it will not have a serious impact on the patient’s life. Therefore, there should be a change in the concept of treating cancer. If the mass cannot be eliminated therapeutically, then it is necessary to face its existence and eliminate its malignant behavior. Some people with benign masses weighing several kilograms in the abdomen can still survive for years or decades, just because the masses are not malignant. The normal physiological function of the body, especially the immune function, itself can inhibit the malignant behavior of cancer cells, and maintaining the normal organ function is an important part of anti-cancer treatment. If there are serious complications, such as severe cirrhosis of the liver complicated by liver cancer or bile duct cancer complicated by severe biliary tract infection, then the first treatment is for cirrhosis or infection, not for tumor treatment, because if the complications are not controlled, there is no basis for survival with tumor, and the body has no ability to reverse the malignant behavior of cancer cells. At this time, even if there are ways such as chemotherapy or traditional Chinese medicine to kill a large number of cancer cells, this kind of killing that does not distinguish between good and ugly targeting proliferating active cells will inevitably cause serious damage to some proliferating active normal organ functions such as bone marrow hematopoiesis, gastrointestinal mucous membrane metabolism, liver cell functions, etc. This is also the reason why a small number of advanced cancer patients go to hospital for inappropriate tumor treatment instead of aggravating their disease. Another prerequisite for survival with tumor is tumor dormancy, that is, to eliminate the malignant behavior of tumor, so that malignant tumor is transformed into benign tumor with long-term and only slow growth. Unlike the somatic treatment, its therapeutic effect does not pursue the reduction of tumor volume, but requires the tumor cells to be in an inactive state. No matter how large these cancers are, as long as invasion and metastasis do not occur, they are just like benign tumors which are just a dominant lesion and are not enough to pose a threat to life. Therefore, patients should have a good attitude and face up to the existence of lumps in the body. As long as they remain intact, inactive and do not progress, it is a sign of successful anti-cancer. There are many methods to make tumor dormant. Unlike conventional treatment, any dormant treatment should be based on the premise of ensuring the safety of normal cells of the body. At present, some palliative methods of tumor reduction do not have the effect of dormant tumor. For example, surgical removal of some tumors can achieve the purpose of tumor reduction, but because of its inhibitory effect on active cancer cells, it does not make the residual tumors dormant. In addition, surgery is a huge trauma to the body, which can destroy the conditions of survival of the body with tumor. Radiation therapy is also a kind of tumor reduction, because radiation itself can also destroy normal cells, so it requires low dose and uninterrupted course of treatment, and the therapeutic effect does not pursue the disappearance of tumor necrosis, but to make the cancer cells in a state of suppression after radiation, so as to achieve the effect of tumor dormancy. The most common method of tumor dormancy is chemotherapy, but unlike traditional chemotherapy, it does not require the reduction or disappearance of solid tumors through chemotherapy, but rather moderate chemotherapy to stop the active growth and invasion front of cancer cells and keep them in an inactive state. It has been proven that cancer is a genetic disease. Normal cells in the human body are sperm and egg fertilized, and after many repeated divisions and proliferations, some cells stop proliferating, i.e., they enter a dormant state. Regulating this proliferation are signaling system, apoptosis, telomeres, etc. Cancer is due to multiple genetic abnormalities that cause the dormant structures to break down and restart the infinite proliferative state. Moreover, it acquires the ability of revascularization and infiltration, and becomes more malignant and accompanied by lethal metastasis. Therefore, the fundamental treatment of cancer is not to kill the significantly growing cells, but to make them dormant and become mildly inactive again. Almost all chemotherapeutic agents do not recognize cancer cells but only kill rapidly proliferating cells non-specifically. Therefore, conventional chemotherapy can also kill normal cells that proliferate rapidly, such as bone marrow cells, digestive tract mucosa, and hair, causing side effects such as bone marrow suppression, vomiting, diarrhea, and hair loss in patients. By simply pursuing the elimination of tumor through increasing the drug dose, combining drugs and repeatedly using drugs, the normal proliferating cells of the body are often destroyed before the tumor is destroyed, which destroys the basic conditions for tumor growth and results in more losses than gains. Moderate chemotherapy is different from the traditional standardized chemotherapy program, which emphasizes on individual chemotherapy program, fully considering the patient’s tolerance level and toxic side effects of chemotherapy. For gastrointestinal adenocarcinoma, oxaliplatin, paclitaxel for squamous cell carcinoma and gemcitabine for pancreatic and biliary carcinoma should be used. Molecular targeted therapy is the most promising treatment for cancer dormancy. Currently, targeted therapeutic drugs mainly include monoclonal antibodies and small molecules, the former of which can inhibit downstream signaling by binding with receptors or antigens on the surface of cells and blood vessels; the latter has a smaller molecular weight and can directly enter cells to block the chemistry of various enzymes in the signaling pathway and play anti-tumor effects. Anti-EGFR monoclonal antibodies such as cetuximab (erbitux, C225) are the first recombinant humanized anti-EGFR monoclonal antibodies that can inhibit tumor growth and prevent neovascularization without affecting normal tissue cells. The drug was approved by the FDA in 2004 for the treatment of colon cancer and was launched in China in July 2006. Anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) monoclonal antibodies such as bevacizumab (avastin) is one of the most promising recombinant humanized, human-mouse chimeric anti-VEGF monoclonal antibodies, which can inhibit endothelial cell proliferation and neovascularization, and delay tumor growth and metastasis. Small molecule EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors such as gefitinib (ERSA) can reduce the synthesis of extracellular matrix in cancer tissues to prevent distant metastasis of tumor cells. In addition, Chinese medicine treatment has good application prospects in the treatment of tumor dormancy because it emphasizes the balance of tumor suppression and regulation of the body. The key points of advanced cancer treatment: 1.Confront the existence of tumor and live with tumor for a long time. 2.Adequate body resistance and nutritional support to eliminate complications and create conditions for growth with tumor. 3.Individualized treatment makes the tumor dormant instead of pursuing to make the tumor shrink or disappear.