After cancer treatment, there is still a five-year observation period...

In the field of cancer research, there is a professional term called the five-year survival rate. Many cancer patients and their families are shocked when they hear this term, and out of concern, they think that the patient will not live more than five years. In fact, this is a misunderstanding. In fact, the "five-year survival rate" does not mean that a person with cancer can only live for another five years. So what does it mean?

What is the five-year cancer survival rate?

Clinically, in the treatment of cancer, there is a situation: through long-term treatment, although the tumor lesions still exist and cancer cells still exist in the body, the tumor does not develop further and is in a stagnant state. This situation can be maintained for a long time until the host dies due to other reasons. This is also one of the criteria for cancer cure.

However, how do we measure this time? If we must use the current treatment effect to judge whether cancer is cured, such as "the lesion disappears, there are no more cancer cells in the body, and the cancer biological indicators are already in a normal state", this method of judgment may not be reliable.

In order to solve this problem, medicine has introduced the concept of "five-year survival rate", which refers to the proportion of patients with a certain type of cancer who survive for more than five years after treatment. This concept roughly means that after treatment, the cancer has not metastasized within five years and the patient's health status is stable.

Because the medical community has found that if a patient's cancer does not recur within five years, most of them will not metastasize. In other words, it is to replace "temporary no lesions" or "long-term no lesions" with a review method, and use five years to judge whether it is cured. This method should be the most scientific so far.

How to improve the five-year survival rate

It should be noted that cancer has the characteristics of metastasis and spread, so in order to improve the five-year survival rate of cancer, we still need to remain vigilant after the doctor says the tumor has been successfully removed, because cancer recurrence can occur at any time. The specific approach is as follows:

1. Actively cooperate with treatment and have regular follow-up examinations. Most cancers are treated with comprehensive treatments. Therefore, in many cases, you should not think that everything is done after surgical resection. You also need to cooperate with radiotherapy, chemotherapy, traditional Chinese medicine and other treatments to consolidate the therapeutic effect, improve the patient's immunity and prolong life. In addition, any malignant tumor patient may relapse or metastasize after treatment. Therefore, a follow-up examination should be conducted after surgery, including self-examination by the patient and professional examination, so that you and the doctor can understand the physical condition and receive timely treatment if the indicators are abnormal.

Of course, patients can also make a preliminary judgment on recurrence through self-examination. They can observe the original lesion site and whether there are new ulcers and damages nearby, whether there are new pains in the area, and pay attention to changes in the whole body, such as general fatigue, loss of appetite, sudden weight loss, anemia, etc. If these symptoms occur, they should go to the hospital for examination in time.

2. Take good care of your life and diet. If this is not done well, it will also increase the chance of cancer recurrence. Because the occurrence of cancer itself is closely related to bad living habits, so to prevent recurrence, you must also adjust your lifestyle habits.

It mainly includes three aspects: emotion, diet and lifestyle habits. In terms of emotion, maintain a relatively stable and optimistic mental state as soon as possible, and avoid anxiety, depression and irritability. In terms of diet, remember to supplement enough nutrition, improve your immunity, and don't eat foods that have the risk of inducing cancer, such as moldy, high-sugar, high-fat, pickled, fried, spicy and stimulating foods. In terms of lifestyle habits, do appropriate physical exercise to improve immunity, but be moderate, not too hard, and pay attention to rest.

If you have cancer, don't give up easily, because medical technology has improved significantly now. As long as you detect the problem in time and actively cooperate with the treatment, you can still extend your survival time.