Today is World Cancer Day for 2024,The theme is Close the Care Gap. This theme highlights the disparities in cancer care that exist around the world. The Union for International Cancer Control (UICC) has designated February 4 every year as World Cancer Day since 2000, aiming to raise community awareness of the threat of cancer and unite the global population to combat cancer.
According to the IARC, there were 17.0 million new cancer cases and 9.5 million cancer deaths worldwide. or nearly one in six deaths. It has become a serious threat to human health. The most common cancers are breast, lung, colon and rectum and prostate cancers.
The good news is that many cancers can be cured if detected early and treated effectively. So make sure we know the basic knowledge about cancer to protect ourselves and the ones we love. We will display it as follows.
What is a Cancer?
What are the warning signs of cancer?
What are the main risk factors of cancer?
What kinds of diet can help?
Can cancer be prevented?
What is a Cancer?
Cancer is an uncontrolled, abnormal growth of cells in the body. Cancer develops when the body's normal control mechanism stops working. Old cells do not die and instead grow out of control, forming new, abnormal cells. These extra cells may form a mass of tissue, called a tumor. , it is actually a preventable and curable chronic disease. The occurrence of cancer is a long-term, chronic, and multi-stage process. It usually takes 10 to 20 years or even longer for normal cells to evolve into cancer cells and then form tumors that endanger human health.
What are the warning signs of cancer?
The main reason why cancer is difficult to treat is that it is discovered late. Under the current level of medical technology, 80% of patients are already in the intermediate and advanced stages when tumors are discovered. The fact that tumors are difficult to detect does not mean that they cannot be detected early, but that many people are unwilling to learn about tumor prevention. In fact, when many tumors invade, the body has early alarm signals. As long as we are vigilant and detect these signals in time, the tumors will be detected early.
To facilitate memory, we have summarized the early warning signs of tumors into the five-character formula that is easy to remember, namely: Blood, clot, pain, burning, and reduction.
Blood (bleeding)
Except for women's normal menstruation, unexplained bleeding in any organ of the human body that does not heal may be an early warning signal for tumors.
- Unexplained nosebleeds, excluding transient nosebleeds caused by trauma, external force, dry weather or high blood pressure, which may be nasopharyngeal cancer, blood diseases and other tumors;
- Coughing up blood and blood in sputum, excluding temporary bleeding caused by dry weather, bleeding gums or overwork, may be manifestations of lung cancer.
- Hematuria, especially painless hematuria accompanied by waist discomfort, may be bladder cancer or kidney cancer; Blood in the stool, if
- accompanied by changes in defecation habits and tenesmus (abdominal pain and distress, constant urge to defecate, heavy anus, and discomfort when passing stool), may be an early manifestation of colorectal cancer;
- Bloody discharge from female nipples may be breast cancer or breast duct tumors;
- After menopause, women find vaginal bleeding again, which may be a sign of cervical cancer.
Lumps (abnormal masses)
Tumors, especially solid tumors, are ugly in appearance and often consist of one or several irregular masses.
Lumps that persist for a long time or that grow rapidly in a short period of time appear on superficial parts of the body, especially if they are accompanied by itching, ulceration, oozing, etc.;
- If irregular lumps are found in the breast, with bilateral asymmetry, especially if there are orange peel-like changes, it is very likely to be breast cancer;
- If a mass is found in the thyroid gland and th
atient suddenly loses his voice or his voice suddenly becomes hoarse, in addition to seeing an endocrinologist, he should also go to an oncology department to avoid missing diagnosis of thyroid cancer, laryngeal cancer and other tumors.
Pain
Pain that continues to worsen for a long time may be an early signal of tumors.
- Headache, progressively worsening, accompanied by nausea, vomiting (projectile vomiting is more critical), and blurred vision. This may be a manifestation of a brain tumor, or it may be caused by tumors such as lung cancer flowing to the brain (brain metastasis) . When the above symptoms occur, some patients often just go to the neurology department for medical treatment. However, they must go to the oncology department for consultation after seeing the neurology department to check whether there is a brain tumor, so as not to delay the treatment opportunity.
- Neck pain, accompanied by a sense of pressure, tightness, stiffness, and facial edema. This may be caused by tumor invasion and compression of the superior vena cava, causing obstruction of blood return;
- Retrosternal pain, burning sensation, and dysphagia may be symptoms of esophageal cancer, cardia cancer, and gastric cancer.
Fever
If the fever lasts for more than a week, especially for more than ten days, diseases other than colds must be considered. In addition to combined lung infections, the suspicion of tumors cannot be ruled out. If fever persists, especially long-term low-grade fever, accompanied by weight loss, night sweats (sweating after sleeping deeply at night), etc., children should be alert to hematological tumors such as leukemia (the late child star Deng Minghe, a household name, leukemia was discovered in this way), and adults should be alert Rule out the possibility of lymphoma, liver cancer, kidney cancer and other tumors.
Weight loss
Adults, especially young and middle-aged people, lose weight for unknown reasons in a short period of time without deliberately losing weight, and the weight loss is progressive. After excluding diseases such as hyperthyroidism, diabetes, and tuberculosis, it is possible that It is tumors such as digestive tract tumors, kidney cancer, and lymphoma that are causing trouble. Because the gluttonous tumor competes with our body for nutrients, all the food we eat is stolen by the tumor. If weight loss is accompanied by yellowing of the skin and pain, active examinations should be conducted to rule out the possibility of tumors such as pancreatic cancer, the king of cancers.
Of course, once a tumor visits, there will definitely be a lot of movement. In addition to the above five major manifestations, there may also be other manifestations. When the above symptoms of blood, clots, pain, burning, and weight loss appear, you should go to the hospital for relevant examinations in time to be alert to the onset of tumors.
What are the main risk factors of cancer?
The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) also evaluates research and 
publishes its findings. The most recent IARC research lists 122 substances known to cause cancer, 93 substances that probably cause cancer and 319 substances that may cause cancer.
The IARC has three categories of carcinogens:
- Physical carcinogens, like ultraviolet rays from the sun and ionizing radiation from sources like radon in homes or X-rays and other medical imaging tests.
- Chemical carcinogens, like asbestos, tobacco smoke, beverages containing alcohol, aflatoxin (a fungus that contaminates food) and arsenic that appears naturally in the air, water and soil.
- Biological carcinogens, such as infections from certain viruses, bacteria or parasites.
Among them,the main risk factors for cancer include tobacco, alcohol, physical inactivity, unhealthy diet and being overweight or obese. Around one-third of deaths from cancer are due to tobacco use, high body mass index, alcohol consumption, low fruit and vegetable intake, and lack of physical activity.
Tobacco is the most important cancer risk factor. Ninety percent of lung cancers are caused by tobacco.
Alcohol, like tobacco, has been classified as a Category 1 carcinogen by the World Health Organization (WHO).
In addition, the WHO estimates that about 21% to 25% of breast and colorectal cancers are mainly caused by lack of physical activity.
Unhealthy diet and being overweight or obese also increase the risk of various cancers.
What kinds of diet can help?
People take food as their first priority, and food safety comes first. As the saying goes: Diseases come in through the mouth, and tumors are no exception. A large number of tumors are caused by eating. The word cancer in Chinese has three mouths, which seems to tell us vividly, it is a disease that piles up like a mountain in one mouthful and is eaten out. Cancer can actually be prevented through a reasonable diet! This sentence is very popular in global cancer. Doctors basically say it universally. Authoritative scientific experimental results and scientific surveys have confirmed that about 35% of cancers are related to dietary factors. The World Cancer Research Fund and the China Cancer Foundation have issued a report proposing 10 suggestions for preventing cancer. , six of which are related to diet.
By adhering to the five-character formula of a reasonable diet, you can stay away from many tumors. The five-character formula for a reasonable diet: Bitter, sour, plain, fresh, and light.
- Bitter (bitter foods)
American scientists believe that bitter foods such as bitter melon, Kuding tea, wild vegetables, etc. are important sources of vitamin B12. The cyanide in its main component has no damaging effect on normal cells, but has a powerful effect on cancer cells. It has lethality and can inhibit the cytochrome enzyme in cancer cells, causing them to suffer from metabolic disorders and suicide death.
- Sour (sour food)
sour fruits such as apples (some are sour and sweet), grapes, tangerines, tangerines (also called oranges), pineapples, raisins, wild jujubes (also called wild jujubes, wild jujubes), etc., which are rich in vitamins C. It has certain anti-cancer and anti-cancer effects. The lactic acid bacteria in yogurt can decompose sugar into lactic acid, inhibit the reproduction of putrefactive bacteria in the large intestine, reduce the production of toxins, and swallow up carcinogens, which has a certain preventive effect on tumors such as colorectal cancer.
- Vegetarian dishes(plant-based food)
Whole grains such as soybeans and potatoes (staple foods other than refined foods such as rice and white flour, collectively referred to as coarse grains), as well as plant-based foods such as fresh vegetables and fruits, are rich in fiber and can stimulate irritation when eaten regularly. Intestinal peristalsis relieves constipation, accelerates the excretion of toxic, harmful and carcinogenic substances in the intestines, and has a certain preventive effect on tumors such as colorectal cancer.
- New (fresh seasonal food)
Scientists analyze that raw fresh seasonal vegetables, especially cruciferous vegetables, contain quinones and phenols. Quinones can dilute carcinogens and accelerate their excretion from the body; phenols can prevent the metabolism of cancer cells. In addition, the interferon in vegetables can repel cancer cells from the body, and the beta-carotene in fresh vegetables can reduce the chance of cancer by 1/3.
- Light (light and low-salt food)
A survey by cancer epidemiology experts shows that high-salt diet is related to the high incidence of gastric cancer and other tumors. If you eat 10 to 15 grams of salt every day, the incidence and mortality of gastric cancer will increase. The reason is that a high-salt diet will stimulate the secretion of gastric acid and pepsin, causing inflammation, swelling, ulcers, bleeding, and atrophy of the gastric mucosa, making it prone to cancer.
Can cancer be prevented?
The WHO proposes that one-third of cancers can be completely prevented; One-third of cancers can be cured through early detection; one-third of cancers can use existing medical measures to extend life, reduce pain, and improve quality of life. .
International advanced experience shows that taking measures such as active prevention (such as health education, tobacco and alcohol control, early screening by blood test like CYFRA 21‑1 test , etc.) and standardized treatment have significant effects on reducing the incidence and death of cancer. In some areas where comprehensive cancer prevention and treatment strategies were implemented earlier like US, cancer incidence and mortality rates have shown a downward trend.
