Cancer, one of the most feared and serious diseases in today’s society, is unfortunately also a subject surrounded by stigma. Although the disease affects millions of people worldwide, there is still silence and shame surrounding it.
– In my profession, the doctor often finds it difficult to say the word cancer – so as not to scare the patient. It’s so busy, says Robel Malki, oncologist at Södersjukhuset.
In Nyhetsmorgon, he takes the opportunity to debunk some common myths about cancer:
Cancer is just ONE disease
– It is a common misconception. People sometimes say they know someone who got cancer. Then I ask: “What kind of cancer?” Otherwise, it does not say much about the degree of danger, prognosis and treatment. Cancer is a collective name for approximately 200 diseases, which in turn are divided into other subgroups.
Everyone who gets lung cancer is a smoker
– Not everyone who gets lung cancer is a smoker, you can get lung cancer for other reasons. It can be passive smoking, pollutants such as asbestos or radon, which are found in building materials and the like.
There are benign and malignant cancers
– This probably has to do with associating it with a tumor. There are benign and malignant tumors. But all cancer is malignant.
Cancer and tumor are the same thing
– Tumor is simply just a Latin name for a swelling. Most often, cancer is a lump or a swelling, so they become synonymous with each other – but they are not the same thing.
Only women get breast cancer
– It is a common misconception, above all because so many women are affected. But what we rarely talk about is that men also suffer from breast cancer. It is certainly not to the same extent, but approximately 60-80 men get breast cancer every year.
Cancer is hereditary or genetic
– Only five to ten percent of cancer is hereditary. This means that the risk of you inheriting it from your parents or the like increases. It’s not one hundred percent, but you just have an increased RISK of getting a certain cancer. The types of cancer that are often looked out for are breast cancer, ovarian cancer and pancreatic cancer, but research is ongoing for more.
Deodorant causes breast cancer
– It’s just a myth. It comes from the fact that there are deodorants with aluminum compounds that are supposed to clog the sweat glands. The theory is that the aluminum compounds affect estrogen receptors and estrogen can promote cancer. But there is no evidence that deodorants cause breast cancer.
Antioxidants protect against cancer
– It is known that antioxidants protect against free radicals, which can damage cells. Then many people started eating antioxidants in the form of food supplements to protect against this – because a damaged cell can lead to cancer. But in experiments with lung and skin cancer, it had the opposite effect: Dietary supplements protected the cancer, which in this way spread even more. So avoid dietary supplements with antioxidants. Eat fruit and vegetables. And engage in physical activity!