Health

When my LINC Home Study instructor told me the meaning of the big ‘C’, I thought he was just making a joke. Unlike the ‘F-word’, I had never heard about the big ‘C’, even though I have been an oncologic researcher for more than ten years. By the end of the class, he asked me whether I was able to write something for the coming edition of ‘Write@Home’. At that time, the idea to write something about the BIG ‘C’ in plain language from the angle of a cancer researcher sparkled in my mind.

Given its high incidence and mortality, we have all been affected by this lethal plague in some way. Most people believe that there is no cure, partially because they have lost their beloved ones due to this disease. The fact is, for many early stage cases of solid tumors, cancer is actually curable, usually by resection, which is also commonly called surgery or an operation. However, another question you may ask is how to define ‘early stage’. I have to say, it is too complicated for ordinary people to understand the guidelines published by the National Comprehensive Cancer Network, or the American Society of Clinical Oncology. We have to leave this puzzling question to our oncologists.

Despite the curability of this modern plague, why is the big ‘C’ still so scary for most people? The answer is the difficulty in diagnosing ‘early stage’ disease, which usually doesn’t carry any visible or significant syndromes. When there are some, it has already become an intermediate or even advanced stage, unfortunately. Therefore, what we’d better do here is prevent rather than diagnose and treat. Also, prevention is, for sure, much more economical!

Food and lifestyle play an essential role in cancer prevention. No more than platitudes, we all know the common advice: “no smoking, less drinking, less calories, more exercise”. To quit smoking might be painful, but it really helps to decrease the risk. One may argue, ‘My dad has been smoking for 30 years, but he is still alive and kicking.’ Well, your dad is lucky, just like someone who drives without a seat belt for a long time. In terms of the correlation between cancer and tobacco use, so much statistical data has illustrated the same truth. Just for reference, I have listed the top 10 foods that increase cancer risk based on solid evidence, some of which may really astonish you!

• Charred foods
• Heavily salted, smoked and pickled foods
• Sugar
• Excess alcohol
• Processed red meat
• Moldy nuts, such as peanuts
• Excess milk/yogurt
• Fries, chips and snack foods that contain trans fats
• Diets without enough fresh vegetables and fruits
• Foods with too high temperature

One may question, ‘my mother never smokes, and she exercises every day, but how come she got lung cancer eventually?’ Well, smoking is just one of all the known risk factors of lung cancer. Environmentel factors are also of great importance to avoid the big ‘C’. Air and water pollution has caused millions of cancer deaths in China over the past two decades. Cooking smoke in the kitchen, or radon in the basement, could also be a silent killer. According to a 2003 report studying radon in homes from the United States Environmental Protection Agency, epidemiological evidence shows a clear link between lung cancer and high concentrations of radon, with 21,000 radon-induced U.S. lung cancer deaths per year -- second only to cigarette smoking. Very astonishing!

One thing most people may not know is that several pathogens have been demonstrated to be risk factors for some specific kinds of cancer, for example, HBV/HCV for liver cancer, HPV for cervical cancer, and Helicobacter pylori for gastric cancer, etc. If there is a valid vaccine, it’s a good idea to be immunized. If you are suffering from stomachache, nausea or any symptoms of gastritis, don’t hesitate to see a doctor for treatment.

Finally, I need to point out the importance of mental health. Although statistical studies indicate that the causal relation between psychological distress and cancer is pretty weak, it is very clear that mentally healthy people live longer. Mood disorders such as depression have been implicated in immune pathways and are known to provoke immune dys-regulation, which I believe is the key cause of carcinogenesis. It’s impossible to avoid all the carcinogens all the time, but our immune system, the guardian of our health, keeps eliminating any mutated ‘bad’ cells every second. Therefore, in order to prevent the big ‘C’, let’s be positive, release all the stress and enjoy our life!