{"id":265,"date":"2025-06-05T07:27:43","date_gmt":"2025-06-05T07:27:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.itishachaudhary.com\/blog\/?p=265"},"modified":"2025-06-05T11:12:47","modified_gmt":"2025-06-05T11:12:47","slug":"breaking-myths-what-you-should-and-shouldnt-believe-about-cancer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.itishachaudhary.com\/blog\/breaking-myths-what-you-should-and-shouldnt-believe-about-cancer\/","title":{"rendered":"Breaking Myths: What You Should and Shouldn’t Believe About Cancer"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\n Cancer is the abnormal growth of a certain type of cells with-in in the body. The incidence of various\ncancers is steadily increasing worldwide, and a significant contributor to this alarming trend is the\nlifestyle changes that we have consciously or sub-consciously imbibed over years. Unhealthy diets\nloaded with processed foods, excessive consumption of red and processed meats, smoking, and alcohol\nabuse, chronic stress, air pollutants, and many other factors are fueling the rise in various cancers.\nSedentary lifestyles, prolonged screen time, and lack of physical activity are leading to obesity, a known\nrisk factor for various cancers. The key to prevention is thus active modification in the predisposing\nfactors along with awareness about the need for medical check-ups and timely screenings.<\/p>\n

\u201cDemythyfying Cancer\u201d<\/h2>
\n \n <\/div>\n
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  • All Lumps Are Cancer:<\/b>All Lumps in the body are not cancer. In fact, a majority of the lumps are\n benign. However, to understand which lump could be cancerous is difficult. Mostly the lumps\n which are painless to start with and are rapidly growing need utmost attention. To establish\n whether a lump is cancerous or not, a tissue diagnosis is mandatory.<\/li>\n
  • Cancer Is Contagious:<\/b> This is a common myth that cancer is contagious, which is not true.\n Cancer cannot be spread from one person to another, and one cannot catch cancer by touching,\n sharing food, or being in the vicinity of someone with the disease. However, there are certain\n infections that are caused by viruses or bacteria that increase the risk of cancer. For instance,\n cervical cancer can be caused by the human papillomavirus, and hepatitis B and C can increase\n the risk of liver cancer.<\/li>\n
  • Cancer is Always Fatal:<\/b> A lot of people fear that cancer will end in death always. However, this is\n a myth, as cancer is not always fatal. The outcome of the patient is dependent mainly on the\n type of cancer, the stage in which the cancer is detected, and the person\u2019s response to the\n treatment. Any delay in the start of treatment can make convert a potentially curable disease to\n a non-curable disease. With multi-modality treatment essentially in the form of surgical removal\n of cancer, followed or preceded by chemotherapy and radiation therapy offers patients a\n chance of disease free life.<\/li>\n
  • Smoking is the Only Cause of Lung Cancer:<\/b>\n \n Smoking is a factor that plays a major role in causing\n lung cancer and many others as well. However, this is not the only cause of lung cancer. There\n are other factors, such as chronic exposure to uranium, silica, beryllium, arsenic, poly aromatic\n hydrocarbons which are a part of environmental pollution, can increase the risk of a person\n developing lung cancer. There also are people who have never smoked in life but can still\n develop lung cancer.<\/li>\n
  • A Biopsy or Surgery Will Cause Cancer to Spread:<\/b> One major belief that people have about\n cancer is that having a biopsy or surgery will cause the cancer to spread. However, this is a\n misconception, as there is no evidence that can prove that these procedures can cause cancer\n to spread. In fact, biopsies or surgery are conducted by doctors in order to gain insight about the\n cancer and decide the best course of treatment. A tissue diagnosis obtained from biopsy helps\n establish the type of cancer and helps decide the plan of management.<\/li>\n
  • Cancer Treatment Is Always Painful:<\/b> There is a common belief that cancer treatments like\n chemotherapy or surgery are painful. These treatments can cause discomfort or side effects, but\n with the advancements in modern medicine and acceptance of newer technological\n advancements, the incidence of side effects can be brought down and pain management can be\n\n done very effectively. This ensures that the patients can comply with the planned treatment and\n thus be able to achieve a disease free status.<\/li>\n
  • Surgery Is Not Needed If the Tumor Is Solid:<\/b> Another common belief is that if the tumor is solid,\n surgery is not necessary. However, Surgery is the main modality of management of all solid\n tumors. Surgery does not only help remove the tumor completely but also helps accurately\n stage the disease and thus plan adjuvant treatment needed to prevent chances of local and\n distant recurrence. Also in patients who present in advanced stages, surgery can help palliate\n symptoms due to the tumor size; example: doing by-pass surgery in obstructive tumors.<\/li>\n
  • If Cancer Returns After Surgery, It Means Surgery Didn\u2019t Work:<\/b> Recurrence of Cancers after\n treatment is a common event in patients who present with advanced stages of disease and if\n the biology of disease is aggressive. Inspite of the best possible treatment a particular\n percentage of people with definitely recur. The chances of recurrence can\u2019t be predicted\n definitely but a strict protocol based follow-up with your oncologist can help detect the\n recurrence earlier and thus achieve a cure.<\/li>\n
  • Removing the Entire Organ Is Always Necessary:<\/b> This is another common belief, which is not\n always true. Surgery does not always mean that the entire organ will be removed. In many\n cases, surgeons remove the tumor and a small portion of the surrounding tissue. Organ\n preservation can depend on the type of cancer, the organ it affects, and the size of the cancer.\n Like most of the patients of Breast Cancer can be treated curatively by preserving the Breast.\n Very occasionally if the disease demands removal of the organ in toto, a reconstruction helps\n regain the functionality.<\/li>\n
  • If No One in My Family Has Cancer, I Won\u2019t Get It:<\/b> Most cancers are not directly inherited.\n While genetic factors may play a role in some cancers, environmental, lifestyle, and age-related\n factors are responsible for the majority of cases. Regular screenings are important even if\n there\u2019s no family history.<\/li>\n
  • If You Feel Healthy, You Don\u2019t Have Cancer:<\/b> Many cancers don\u2019t cause symptoms in the early\n stages. Feeling healthy doesn\u2019t necessarily mean you are cancer-free. Regular screenings, such\n as mammograms, colonoscopies, and pap smears, are crucial for early detection, even if you feel\n fine.<\/li>\n

    Cancer is a complex disease, but separating myths from facts can lead to better understanding and\n timely action. Early detection and intervention remain the cornerstones of successful treatment. For\n severe cases, surgical procedures like tumor resection, mastectomy, lumpectomy, and colectomy are\n often performed to remove the tumor. Additionally, treatments like chemotherapy, radiation therapy,\n immunotherapy, and targeted therapy play an important role in managing the disease. Timely\n consultation with a doctor is critical. Delaying diagnosis and treatment can allow cancer to progress to\n more advanced stages, reducing the chances of recovery. If you notice any unusual symptoms or have a\n family history of cancer, don\u2019t hesitate to seek medical advice.<\/p>\n <\/ul>\n\n <\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Cancer is the abnormal growth of a certain type of cells with-in in the body. The incidence of various.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":266,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[125],"tags":[120,121],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.itishachaudhary.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/265"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.itishachaudhary.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.itishachaudhary.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.itishachaudhary.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.itishachaudhary.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=265"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.itishachaudhary.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/265\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":273,"href":"https:\/\/www.itishachaudhary.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/265\/revisions\/273"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.itishachaudhary.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/266"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.itishachaudhary.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=265"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.itishachaudhary.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=265"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.itishachaudhary.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=265"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}