Metastatic growth that had originated from the patient’s thyroid cancer(CDC PHIL)

Cancer is an uphill Battle- Support is Necessary

A fight against cancer is a collective effort by a group of people who lives closest to a cancer patient.

Cancer does not mean total surrender, Cancer itself denotes, it is indeed surmountable. Cancer is not just a battle for yourself, it’s a collective effort by a group of people who lives closest to a cancer patient, his family, friends, and his close acquaintances. Being mentally strong is not enough, being in good physical shape is equally important when it comes to supporting.

Risk of breast cancer recurrence after nipple-sparing mastectomy

Medical care and medicines are not the only panaceas. If the person fighting this battle gets a helping hand and shoulder to share this burden, then the whole physical pain, mental agony, and financial pressure go away to a great extent and the insurmountable task becomes easier to overcome. Thus helping the cancer fighter to emerge as a winner

Histopathologic changes exhibited in a lung tissue specimen, which had been harvested from a patient with adenocarcinoma of the lung. ( IMAGE: CDC PHIL)

The first thing to keep in mind is to treat the diagnosis as the first step into the battle against cancer not as a judgement or a final clarion call.

Treating the diagnosiswith a treatment plan is like taking one step in the right direction. There shouldn’t be any rhetoric that damages the patient's psyche. Fighting cancer needs the patient to be aware and encouraged him/her to stay strong both on the outside and on the inside. They should not feel like they are not doing enough from their side to help the treatment work.

This photomicrograph of a Papanicolaou test, or Pap test, revealed findings indicative of adenocarcinoma of the cervix. Note that the purple-staining, malignant cells contained prominent, mucin filled intracytoplasmic vacuoles. (IMAGE CDC PHIL)

The physicians and caregivers play an important role in providing initial support and strength to the patient so that they do not feel like it is the end of the road. A good strategy is to have patients and their families talk openly about it so that there is no misunderstanding between them

Immune targets for chemotherapy resistant breast cancers

Cancer care has come along a long, long way from the times when it was just a death sentence for people suffering from it. With the advancement of medical science, the rate of survival has increased, in several decades immunotherapy, and novel drug agents have been discovered, that have shown good results in clinical trials. The new drugs that are being launched or are present in the pipeline have increased the hopes of millions suffering from these diseases. They will eventually extend the lives of patients suffering from metastatic cancers

Depicts a close view of a dermatology patient’s skin surface, revealing the presence of brown pigmented lesion, which was diagnosed as a superficial spreading melanoma. (IMAGE CDC PHIL)

The human immune system offers protection in the form of proteins and defense cells and by the mucous membrane and squamous epithelial cells. but mental support offers protection against the dreary, sad, and depressing days of the uphill battle that a person has to go through each day and endure the pain. The struggle of any kind gets easier when you have a shoulder to rest upon

Dr Upasana Datta Advisory Board Member, Department of Research and Development, Uttoran Foundation, West Bengal, India.

The length of the survival of a patient increases when there are effective prevention and precautionary measures taken by the patient and the medical establishment.