Cancer13 can be prevented; 1/3 can be cured by early detection, early diagnosis and early treatment; 1/3 can't be cured, but it can be controlled by proper treatment.
According to China Cancer Statistics in 20 15 released by National Cancer Center, there were 4.3 million new cancer cases and more than 2.8 million cancer deaths in China in 20 15. Because of the strong concealment of tumor onset, more than 70% of cancers are found in the middle and late stages, and the best opportunity for surgical treatment is lost.
With the diversification of cancer treatment methods, besides surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy, there are also targeted drug therapy and immunotherapy, which greatly prolongs the survival time of cancer patients and improves their quality of life. For them, living with tumors may be a better choice.
What is survival with tumor?
Survival with tumor, in short, is the "peaceful coexistence" between human body and tumor.
Specifically, survival with tumor refers to the common tumor-related symptoms (such as bleeding, cancer pain, cough, dysphagia, etc.) after standardized comprehensive anti-tumor treatment. ) disappear, the tumor focus is stable and no longer spreads, the condition lasts for a long time and tends to improve, and the patient's physical condition is good. In other words, the immune protection function of the body is greater than the tumor diffusion function, which makes the cancer cells "static" for a long time.
If the tumor can be transformed into cells with discontinuous growth and no invasion and metastasis, then even if there are cancer cells in the body, patients can live like diseases such as diabetes and hypertension, and patients can "live with the tumor" without endangering their lives.
"It is very important for cancer patients and their families to accept' survival with tumor', which is a more pragmatic way to treat advanced cancer." Professor Wu Yongzhong, member of the Standing Committee of Cancer Radiotherapy Committee of China Anti-Cancer Association and president of Chongqing Cancer Hospital, said: Cancer is essentially a genetic disease. All cancers come from gene mutation, which is caused by gene mutation and epigenetic regulation. At present, humans can't use drugs to reverse this genetic mutation and "eliminate" cancer cells in the body. It is also a pragmatic choice for patients in the middle and late stage to realize long-term "survival with tumor" and "peaceful coexistence" with tumor.
Is cancer-free survival really correct?
Many patients and their families actively pursue "cancer-free survival"! For many patients with early cancer, it is very possible to achieve clinical cure through surgical resection. However, for some advanced patients or patients who are not suitable for surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy, the pursuit of "cancer-free survival" may not necessarily achieve better tumor treatment results, and may also lead to some complications, resulting in a painful situation of "endless life, unfinished chemotherapy, and exhausted death". "If you stick to the concept that killing all tumor cells is a cure, it will often lead to overtreatment.
In fact, it is not that the larger the scope of surgery, the more radiotherapy and chemotherapy are done, and the more cancer can be cured. Surgery can only remove solid tumors visible to the naked eye, but it can't do anything about cancer cells in blood and lymph. The total effective rate of radiotherapy and chemotherapy is less than 60%, and the effect is gradually decreasing. Less than 10% after three times, but the side effects are more serious every time. Over-treatment will often make patients' immunity low, make cancer cells come back, and cause the dilemma of "cancer disappears and people go".
What is the purpose of cancer treatment? Is it to "kill" cancer cells by hook or by crook, or to save patients' lives and let them live with quality? Blind pursuit of cure will only backfire, shorten the survival period of cancer patients and reduce their quality of life.
How long can you live with the tumor?
Early patients and late patients are definitely different, but with the deepening of research and treatment, their survival time is also extending.
For patients with early cancer, their prognosis mainly depends on whether appropriate treatment measures are taken in time. For example, the early tumor is small and has not spread and metastasized, and the most effective treatment is surgical resection. Early intestinal cancer and breast cancer can even be cured by surgery, and the 5-year survival rate of early lung cancer after resection can reach 60-90%. Chemotherapy, traditional Chinese medicine and other treatment methods can be taken within a certain period of time after operation to prevent recurrence.
For patients in the middle and late stage, their prognosis mainly depends on whether the treatment method is appropriate and the patient's physical condition. For example, the treatment of advanced lung cancer mainly includes radiotherapy and chemotherapy and traditional Chinese medicine treatment.
After radiotherapy and chemotherapy, 70-80% of the patients' symptoms can be relieved, and the tumor can be suppressed to some extent. After comprehensive treatment, the median survival time of patients with stage ⅳ lung cancer who thought their survival time was less than half a year was gradually extended to 12- 15 months, or even longer. Globally, breast cancer with effective endocrine therapy has begun to count the ten-year survival rate.
Cancer chemoprevention and tumor-bearing survival
Survival with tumor is not to give up treatment or passive treatment, but to choose the treatment method suitable for patients.
In the early stage of canceration or in the process of cancer cell formation, natural or synthetic chemicals with low toxicity are used to inhibit the precursor compounds from forming real carcinogens and prevent them from contacting with intracellular macromolecules such as DNA, RNA or protein until they are completely excreted; Or by reversing, blocking or delaying all stages of cancer, so as to reduce the risk of malignant tumor, which is an important strategy to prevent, inhibit or reverse cancer. This process is called "chemoprevention of cancer".
Cancer chemoprevention, with its advantages of inhibiting cell proliferation, vascular proliferation and inflammation, runs through the whole process of cancer occurrence and development, preventing cancer occurrence and development and improving the quality of life with tumors.
A recent study by researchers at Washington State University confirmed that more than 40 compounds from plants can turn on genes that slow down the spread of cancer cells. Gary Meadows, a professor at Washington State University, and others say that the spread of cancer cells is the most common fatal disease. The appearance of diet, nutrition and chemicals from plants has opened up many ways to attack cancer. We have been looking for a magical anti-cancer "weapon" to fight cancer.
Researchers have spent a long time defining the concepts of nutrients and metastasis suppressor genes in PubMed medical research database. Finally, he identified dozens of substances that affect many cancer metastasis suppressor genes. Among them, several phytochemicals have anti-proliferation, anti-migration and anti-invasion effects on cancer cells, which can be considered as adjuvant therapy for cancer.
curcumin
Curcumin is a chemical component extracted from the roots of some plants in Zingiberaceae and Araceae. Among them, turmeric contains about 3% ~ 6%, which is a rare pigment containing diketones in the plant world and a diketone compound. The anticancer potential of curcumin in vitro lies in its ability to reduce oxidative stress by regulating many downstream signal transduction pathways in cancer cells.
The chemopreventive potential of curcumin was also recorded in the animal model of chemically induced cancer. Curcumin has been proved to regulate Keap/NRF 2 signaling pathway, which is the main transcription regulator in the detoxification process of ROS, thus playing an important role in the chemical prevention and treatment of cancer.
EGCG
Epidemiological studies show that green tea has the potential to reduce the risk of cancer. EGCG is a natural chemotherapy drug and the main active catechin in green tea, which has antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. In vivo and in vitro studies, the chemopreventive potential of antioxidant properties of green tea polyphenols has been confirmed.
In addition, EGCG has also achieved remarkable success in clinical trials of cancer prevention and treatment. A phase II clinical trial in Italy showed that the intake of green tea catechin significantly delayed the appearance of prostate cancer in patients with high-grade intraepithelial neoplasia of prostate cancer.
Sulforaphane
Cruciferae vegetables, such as broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage and cauliflower, are rich in glucosinolates, which can be converted into isothiocyanates, such as phenylethyl isothiocyanate (PEITC). Epidemiological evidence shows that the intake of cruciferous vegetables is related to reducing the risk of breast cancer, bladder cancer and colorectal cancer. In addition, scientists have confirmed that eating broccoli can reduce DNA damage caused by smoking.
Meadows said that this study confirmed for the first time that there are many natural compounds that help our body to slow down or stop the spread of cancer cells, which is very important for whether cancer will spread.
Cancer is just a chronic disease, just like hypertension, diabetes and cardiovascular disease. And the occurrence of most cancers is a long and gradual process, and there is still a long way to go from normal cells to cancer cells. Survival with tumor doesn't mean no treatment or passive treatment, but choosing appropriate treatment methods. If clinical cure can be achieved by surgical resection, radiotherapy and other treatment methods, of course, cure is the first choice.
Acor (curcumin compound tablet), a product which applies curcumin to the research of cancer chemopreventive drugs, is composed of many natural plant compounds. Among them, curcumin has been proved to have anti-tumor effect by many experiments in vitro and in vivo, and it has attenuated and synergistic effect when used in combination with chemotherapy drugs, and has certain adjuvant treatment effect on cancer patients. Curcumin can be used for a long time because of its safety.