These cancers have a "familial" tendency, how can they be prevented?

Health has always been one of the most concerned issues for human beings, because a good body is the foundation of everything. However, modern people have high work pressure and fast work pace. Even though medical technology has been able to overcome most diseases, there are still many medical problems. Cancer treatment is one of them. It has also become a key disease that modern people "prevent day and night".

As one of the diseases that cannot be completely cured in the world, the incidence and mortality of cancer remain high and are even increasing. In China alone, the number of new cancer patients exceeds 4 million and the number of deaths exceeds 2 million each year.

Source | Pexels

Nowadays, there are news reports of "cancer villages" or multiple generations of a family suffering from cancer. As a result, more and more people are beginning to wonder: Is cancer hereditary? Can it be prevented?

1. What kind of disease is cancer?

All malignant tumors are called cancer. Currently, there are more than 100 types of cancer known to humans. Even in the fossils of ceratosaurus dinosaurs, scientists have found evidence that dinosaurs suffered from bone cancer (osteosarcoma).

The basic unit of the human body is the cell. Cell division begins when the egg cell is fertilized, and it lasts throughout a person's life. And every time a human cell divides, genetic mutations may occur. If these "mutated" cells are not discovered and removed in time, they may grow into tumors.

Benign tumors grow slowly (such as lipomas) and have a capsule on the surface. They will stay in the same place for decades and will not cause harm to the surrounding "neighbors" (if discovered during examination, you must follow the doctor's advice for treatment).

Lipoma

Source | NetEase News

Malignant tumors can grow and spread rapidly, even invading the body's lymphatic vessels or surrounding blood vessels, and gradually compress surrounding tissues and organs as tumor cells proliferate. Tumor cells can also "roam" around the body along blood vessels, waiting for an opportunity to stay in other parts of the body and continue to grow and develop. This is cancer cell metastasis.

When the lesion is still small and the cancer cells have not spread or metastasized, it is generally early-stage cancer; if the cancer cells have already spread or metastasized, it is late-stage cancer.

Under an electron microscope, T cells (red) are attacking oral squamous cell carcinoma cells (white)

Source | MEDSCI

Cancers are usually divided into five categories based on the tissue from which they originate:

1. Originated from epithelial tissue: including squamous cell carcinoma, basal cell carcinoma, adenocarcinoma, papillary carcinoma, cystadenocarcinoma, transitional epithelial carcinoma, etc.;

2. Originated from mesenchymal tissue: including fibrosarcoma, rhabdomyosarcoma, leiomyosarcoma, angiosarcoma, osteosarcoma, chondrosarcoma, synovial sarcoma, etc.;

3. Originated from lymphohematopoietic tissue: including malignant lymphoma and various leukemias;

4. Originated from nerve tissue: including neurofibrosarcoma, malignant schwannoma, etc.;

5. Other tumors: including malignant melanoma, malignant hydatidiform mole, seminoma, etc.

2. Is the cause of cancer really genetic?

There are many causes of cancer, the main ones being genetic factors, immune factors, endocrine factors, lifestyle habits, environmental pollution, viral or bacterial infections, trauma and chronic stimulation, and iatrogenic factors.

Although the causes of cancer are very complicated, mainstream research has shown that gene mutations lead to cancer, and most cancers are caused by the canceration of the cancerous cells themselves.

In real life, it happens that multiple generations in a family suffer from cancer. Does this also mean that cancer is a hereditary disease?

In fact, only a few uncommon cancers are completely determined by genes, such as Wilms tumor and retinoblastoma in children; patients with such cancers often have a family history of the disease and develop the disease at a young age. Although most cancers are related to genetic factors, they are not directly passed on to the next generation. Instead, the probability of getting the disease is higher because of family gene characteristics, which is medically called genetic susceptibility .

Source | 16sucai

Among the known cancers, primary liver cancer, gastric cancer, lung cancer, breast cancer, ovarian cancer and epithelial cell cancer are monogenic autosomal dominant inheritance . If one of the parents carries this abnormal gene, then this gene will be passed on to the next generation, and the offspring will be more susceptible to the disease due to "genetic susceptibility." Sarcoma, brain tumor, acute and chronic lymphocytic leukemia, etc. are autosomal recessive inheritance. Both parents need to carry abnormal genes for the next generation to be likely to get sick.

Among the factors causing cancer, genetic factors account for 10%-30%, which is not the highest, but it cannot be ignored. If there is a family history of cancer, there is no need to be overly cautious. This does not mean that you will definitely get the disease, but the probability of getting the disease may be higher. Just like some people are more likely to catch a cold, but if you pay attention to prevention, you may not get sick.

3. Cancer can actually be prevented

Although modern medicine has not yet fully researched the causes of tumor growth, it has identified several major factors that induce cancer - genes, age, environment, habits and region, etc. So, how can we protect ourselves from cell cancer?

First of all, we need to raise awareness of prevention and change bad habits that may cause cancer. The development of cancer is relatively long. Many severe cancer patients are caused by long-term smoking, staying up late or overeating, just like "stacking buffs", which eventually drag down the body. Not only that, maintaining weight, keeping a good work and rest schedule, and insisting on exercise can also prevent other diseases from finding you.

Source | pexels

Second, people with underlying diseases such as cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, diabetes, etc. need to pay attention to their physical condition at all times, have regular physical examinations, increase their exercise , and adjust their diet.

Source | pexels

Third, maintain a good attitude and make good emotional adjustments. Nowadays, urban people are under great pressure in work and life, and a long-term high-pressure environment can easily induce cell cancer.

Fourth, cancers caused by viruses can be prevented by getting vaccinated with viral vaccines (such as hepatitis B virus vaccine, HPV vaccine, etc.).

Source | pexels

Although the number of cancer patients continues to increase worldwide and the situation of cancer prevention is very serious, Dr. Richard Lessard, an expert from the World Health Organization, once said: At least 40% of cancers are preventable; 1/3 of cancers can be cured if they are detected in the early stage and treated in time. In addition, 1/3 of cancer patients can reduce their pain and live on through a reasonable combination of treatment methods and lifestyle.

The phrase "strategically despise the enemy, tactically take the enemy seriously" is very appropriate to describe our attitude towards cancer. If we pay attention to cultivating good living habits and maintain a healthy and positive attitude, we can prevent cancer and avoid other diseases. With the improvement of the world's medical level, there will definitely be new breakthroughs in the pathological research related to cancer. In the future, we hope that humans can completely defeat it!