Download Treatment of Chemotherapy Induced Anaemia

Myths About Cancer
(or the 13 questions you ask your oncologist but are
surprised by the answers!)
Albert Lim Kok Hooi
Gleneagles Oncology Centre
Kuala Lumpur
Cancer is incurable, painful and death is
inevitable and imminent
We don’t know what causes cancer





We do
Accumulated genetic mistakes
Disease of ageing
Chemicals, radiation, viruses
‘Unknown’
Can we prevent cancer?



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Stop smoking
Maintain ideal/ less than ideal body weight
Vaccinate against Hepatitis B
Secondary prevention – mammography,
pap smear, faecal occult blood test, PSA
Does smoking cause cancer?
Is cancer largely a lifestyle disease?
Yes
No
Is cancer inherited?
 Only 10% are inherited
 Remember, you inherit the risk, not the
cancer
What food should I avoid once I have
cancer?




None
None
None
However, a good diet helps
Can food prevent cancer?




No
No
No
However, a well-balanced, scientifically-crafted
diet will do wonders for your heart, body and
psyche. It will possibly reduce your cancer risk as
well
“I don’t want to undergo cancer
treatment because good cells are
killed”
 No such thing as a free lunch
 Side effects are mostly self-limiting, temporary
and reversible
 Much progress in combating side effects of
treatment
 Untreated cancer leads to suffering and death
Doctor, if I suffer no side effects,
does that mean the treatment is not working?
GOOD OUTCOME
GOOD OUTCOME
with
with
FEW SIDE EFFECTS
MANY SIDE
EFFECTS
POOR OUTCOME
POOR OUTCOME
with
with
FEW SIDE EFFECTS
MANY SIDE
EFFECTS
What about alternative and
complementary therapy?
 Albert Lim’s nemesis
 ‘Holistic’, ‘boosts immune system’, ‘does not kill
good cells’….. seductive words but devoid of
meaning and substance
 Anecdote vs sample vs population
 Scientific medicine vs. non-scientific medicine
(not Western vs Chinese/ Malay/ Oriental/ etc.)
 The randomized clinical trial (RCT)
Is cancer contagious?




Again, no
Cancer and viruses
Cancer and transmissibility
Cancer and love
Doctor, can I have sex?
(usually asked in a whisper, just before patient exits doctor’s office)
 Yes
 Yes
 Yes
Isn’t cancer very painful?
 Not necessarily
 Advances in cancer pain control and
prevention: including opioids, fentanyl,
PCA, interventional procedures.
Is there a cure for cancer?
 Presently one third of cancers are curable (stage I/
almost all stage II)
 For ‘incurable’ cancers, prolongation of good
quality life is a realistic therapeutic goal
 With advances in cancer genetics, proteomics,
biology, clinical trial methodology and
translational research, the future is bright
WHAT HAVE WE LEARNT?
 Forget about received wisdom about food,
food taboos and alternative therapy
 Most cancer pain can be adequately controlled
 Cancer is curable in a significant proportion of
patients with a judicious combination of surgery,
radiotherapy, chemotherapy and molecularly
targeted therapy
 Cure of the rest is on the horizon
THE PRESENT IS BRIGHT, THE FUTURE IS
EVEN BRIGHTER
‘I have nothing new to teach the world.
Truth and non violence are as old as the
hills’
Mahatma Gandhi