Cancer Treatment Myths - Believe Them Or Not?

Cancer is really hard for laypeople to understand. We all know it's bad, and we all know it can kill. Beyond that, however, few of us truly understand what's involved in the development of cancer, and how the treatment works. 

Due to this incomplete understanding of the disease, there are many myths about cancer and its treatment. These misconceptions about the disease and its treatment confuse newly diagnosed patients and their loved ones, and can impact the choice of treatment and the correct time to begin it. This leads to wasting precious time. So it is imperative to bust the various rumors floating around about the cancer treatment. Let's examine and debunk some of the most popular cancer treatment myths.

 

 

1. Cancer can be beaten by just keeping a positive attitude

No study has yet proved that patients with a positive attitude respond more favorably to cancer treatment as compared to patients who have given up hope. You can't simply wish the cancer away with positive affirmations or shamans.

 

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But this fact in no way takes away from the various benefits achieved by having an optimistic attitude. An optimistic person retains a zest for life. Despite the hard battle against the illness, an optimistic patient remains socially active and loves to interact with his or her near and dear ones. Instead of self pitying, these people try to feel good about themselves. This in turn gives them the will power to fight the disease and get through the tough times of enduring and recovering from treatment.

2. With all the advanced technology that we have, we should have a cancer cure by now

Yes, it is true that with all the technology that we have to aid us today, we should be closer to finding a cure for cancer. But alas! Cancer is a very complex disease. It can affect people of different age groups, involves numerous different organs of the body, may be of a different cell type and behave differently in different people. It is difficult to predict which stimulus initiates cancerous changes in the cells and whether the stimulus remains the same in two different individuals.

Even the pattern of the progression of the disease does not remain the same in different persons. Moreover, the cancer cells may mutate during the course of the illness. This may result in the patient suddenly becoming unresponsive to the treatment to which he was reacting positively earlier. In such a scenario, the chemotherapy drugs being given to the patient may have to be changed altogether. Will there be a cure for cancer one day? It's not on the horizon yet, but novel and personalized cancer treatments that improve survival rates are!

3. New cancer treatments are deliberately blocked by the drug companies and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)

It is a common myth that a cure for cancer has been found but the FDA, is in collusion with the various drug companies ("Big Pharma"!), deliberately keeping it from the public. This can easily be the biggest myth about cancer treatment. The primary requisition for any successful treatment is that we trust the agencies responsible for it. Remember that cancer is a very complex disease. Any new drug coming into the market has to undergo rigorous scientific studies and tests to establish its safety for use in human patients.

This is a time-consuming but a essential process meant for our own good — it's not a conspiracy to keep patients from cures, but a system of checks and balances to ensure that the "cure" isn't worse than the disease. Doctors and people from the pharmaceutical industries are also ordinary mortals who may be affected by cancer themselves at any point in time. Therefore finding an early cure for the disease serves everyone’s interest. Nobody stands to gain by blocking the release of new cancer treatments that have been proven to be safe and effective.

4. Undergoing tests, like a needle biopsy, can disturb the cancer cells leading to their spread to other parts of the body

A needle biopsy is a procedure done to diagnose the nature of a tumor wherein the tissue, taken through the biopsy, is studied under a microscope. Barring a few exceptions, like the testicular tumor, there is no evidence to suggest that performing a needle biopsy can disturb the cancer cells, resulting in their metastasis to other parts of the body.

5. Surgery can result in the spread of cancer

This myth has often caused a delay in treatment resulting in the further spread of the disease. Surgery is often the first line of treatment for cancer, when the cancerous lump is diagnosed, as it removes the bulk of the tumor. However, there are instances when the surgeon discovers, while the patient is on the operating table, that the cancer is too advanced to be operated upon and has called off the operation. This may have given birth to the false belief that the surgery probably caused the cancer to advance. However, this is just a baseless rumor with no grain of truth in it.

6. It is essential for a woman diagnosed with breast cancer to undergo a mastectomy

It is not necessary to undergo breast removal for all types of breast cancers. A lumpectomy, followed by radiotherapy, is fast becoming the preferred treatment for early stage breast cancers like ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS). In this less invasive form of cancer treatment, the tumor is removed along with a rim of normal breast tissue, thus preserving the breast. Depending on the nature of the cancer cells, some women are also advised to have chemotherapy as the first line of treatment. This causes the tumor to shrink in size. Subsequently, the patient can undergo a lumpectomy (a surgery that only removes the tumor) instead of going for whole breast removal.

7. Prophylactic mastectomy will eliminate the risk of developing breast cancer

Women who have a high risk of developing breast cancer may consider the option of undergoing a unilateral or bilateral prophylactic mastectomy as a preventive measure. Studies indicate that almost 90% women benefit from this procedure. But to say that all the chances of developing breast cancer are eliminated in such women is a myth. One must remember that the breast tissue extends under the arms into the armpits, to the chest wall and right up to the neck. Undergoing a mastectomy does not remove this tissue completely. So some risk of developing breast cancer will always remain.

8. Mammography can itself lead to breast cancer

The amount of radiation to which a woman is exposed during a mammography is miniscule, comparable to spending a day in a busy city or taking a flight on an airplane. As compared to that, the benefits that a routine mammography offers are immense. So to skip mammography and running the risk of not detecting a breast tumor earlier is certainly not advisable.

9. Cancer is a painful and incurable disease, therefore undergoing treatment is pointless

With the medical advances made in recent years, mortality due to cancer has considerably been reduced. Many forms of cancer are now completely curable. Furthermore, various new medicines for pain have ascertained that the suffering from the disease is minimal. Many cancers are survivable, and that is especially true if they are diagnosed and treated in the earliest stages.

10. Radiation therapy has a hazardous impact on the environment

Radiation used for cancer treatment is electronically generated. The radiation therapy utilizes targeted x-rays to kill the cancer cells or to prevent them from multiplying. This type of treatment has no effect on the environment.

Thus, we see that there are many misconceptions regarding cancer treatment. It is always advisable to consult your doctor and clear all the doubts that you may have beforehand rather than delaying the treatment just on the basis of hearsay.