Reviewer: Li Zhizhong, Ph.D. in Cancer Biology, Duke University, USA
I am a family member of a lung cancer patient. Several lung cancer patients in my family made me a professional family member.
Cancer is a time-related disease, most of the patients are too old when diagnosed, most of the problems cannot be faced, and medical knowledge has not been updated. As the children of the patient, we need to face it together with the patient.
Inquiry:
Choose multidisciplinary collaboration as much as possible
If you look carefully at the department setting of a cancer hospital, you will understand that even if it is a single cancer Cancer treatment also requires the cooperation of many people.
Because medical information is updated too fast, doctors themselves also need to learn from each other. Every new case is an opportunity for doctors to learn, and ultimately can better serve patients.
Don’t underestimate the significance of multidisciplinary expert consultation. At a time when the division of labor is becoming more and more detailed, this method minimizes the misdiagnosis rate, reduces the waiting time for patients, and avoids constant referrals and repeated examinations.
There may even be occasions when the patient has not only a tumor but other diseases as well. In this case, even the departments of the cancer hospital are not enough, and you may need to seek help from a general hospital.
Diagnosis:
Standardized diagnosis is the most correct
In almost all cancers, cancer cells need to be seen for final diagnosis. Take lung cancer as an example, it is not only a CT scan to determine, although “whether it is a malignant tumor” is closely related to experienced doctors, only the pathology department can finally confirm it.
In addition to routine diagnosis, the last thing to do in the diagnosis of cancer is to perform genetic testing on cancer cells.
At the level of genetic testing, two things should be roughly determined:
● To see if the patient has genetic mutations, EGFR, ALK and other common mutations, and now there are targeted drugs, No need to be hospitalized, no radiotherapy or chemotherapy, just go home and take tablets every day.
● Depending on the PD-L1 expression of the patient, if it is very high, immune drugs can be used directly; if it is not high, combined with chemotherapy and other means, this drug can still be used, and 1/3 of the patients may get it. Survival longer than 3 years.
At present, there are three generations of targeted drugs for EGFR mutation. For patients with ideal mutation status, it is not a dream to live 3 years longer.
At least 60% of patients with ALK mutations survive for more than 5 years.
The PD-1/PD-L1 monoclonal antibody immunotherapy has enabled many advanced patients to achieve clinical cure (late stage itself means incurable).
Treatment:
Believe in evidence-based choices
From European and American countries to Eastern countries, there is a thing called “guidelines” for cancer treatment. Whether it is international or domestic, the guidelines are formulated by the top cancer scientists and doctors, and standardized diagnosis and treatment directly affects the prognosis.
There is also a word to remember, called evidence-based medicine. This is a theory drawn by doctors based on a large amount of evidence to guide the practice of diagnosis and treatment. If someone tells you that he has a recipe or a secret recipe, treat it with caution.
Because, the best doctors in the world will contribute the best scientific research to the knowledge platform, instead of letting only a small number of people know about it. Since the development of human academics, “1+1>2” has become a kind of ecology.
Don’t believe in home remedies. For the first diagnosis and treatment, you need to find a standardized hospital, a professional team of doctors, and standardized treatment throughout the process, which largely determines the patient’s treatment effect.
And a “home remedy” that makes you feel that it is very easy to say to your heart will delay the treatment.
Hope:
A ray of light on the road to fighting cancer
It is really unfortunate to have cancer. But from the perspective of the longitudinal era, it is lucky. We are in the era of the most rapid progress in the fight against cancer in human history.
Surgery is becoming less harmful to the human body, and only three holes or even a single hole is required for a minimally invasive operation; chemotherapy is becoming less toxic and efficient; radiotherapy is becoming more and more precise, not only has begun to replace surgery , is still progressing towards “precisely attacking cancer cells”; targeted drugs are in the ascendant and updated from generation to generation; once immunotherapy is effective and long-term effective, there will be a large number of survivors.
If you talk to your doctor in earnest, you will find that they must have patients who have lived for many years, and patients who have undergone chemotherapy for dozens of times and still look like normal people. Before you defeat cancer, don’t be scared away by rumors, you will lose the best chance of treatment in vain.
This sentence, when fighting cancer, please keep it in mind. To live, there is hope.