Krebs Anhang
[By Andy
Ho] The Straits Times, Singapore Press Holdings group.
'Catch'
cancer? Yes, you can
A recent
The British
Journal of Cancer reported that cancers of the anus, vulva and vagina have
increased among 'baby boomers' because of increased HPV transmission among the
age group that launched the sexual revolution of the 1960s.
All this in
addition to the fact that 99% of all cancers of the cervix are caused by HPV, =
now the most common sexually transmitted disease. A recent study showed that
28.5% and 50% of first- and third-year female university students in U.S
respectively, who had had just one male sex partner were HPV-positive.
The HPV
causes no symptoms and our immune systems generally clear it out of the body
within 2 years. In 10% of infected women, it persists to cause cervical cancer.
In all these cases, the HPV genome actually gets incorporated into the human
genome. It then switches off the human genes that make specific human proteins
which suppress cancers from developing. When these proteins are not made,
cancers erupt.
If sex can
transmit HPV that causes cancer in an unfortunate minority, you can obviously
'catch' cancer, even if it takes time to develop. We do not want cancer
patients treated like lepers of old.
But this
should not mean being skittish about taking the necessary steps - like being
careful with food or eating utensils of a loved one with cancer - to prevent
transmission, if any, of his or her disease.
Beside HPV,
the World Health Organisation has identified other viruses that cause human
cancers.
Epstein-Barr virus (lymphomas and nose cancer);
Epstein-Barr virus now
known to cause Hodgkin's lymphoma in previously healthy people, and
non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in those with suppressed immunity like organ recipients.
It also causes nasopharyngeal
carcinoma, the nose cancer rare worldwide but common in
Transmitted by saliva, it also causes glandular
fever, nicknamed the 'kissing disease' for obvious reasons. Yet the hospital
dietitian advised my relative's wife to cook bigger portions. Her husband would
then have more to eat and, for the sake of convenience, she could just consume
the leftovers. No risk of catching his lymphoma, of course, she added.
The Epstein-Barr virus
causes yet another lymphoma called Burkitt's, which usually appears as a
jawbone lump that can double in size within 24 to 48 hours. The virus' genome
is detected in 100%of these cases,
which usually occur in equatorial
Elsewhere, Burkitt's manifests
mainly as abdominal masses. This week, local colorectal surgeon Francis
Seow-Choen revealed in The Straits Times that he contracted it in 1964
when he was seven.
He obviously survived,
Burkitt's being eminently treatable even back then. Not so non-Hodgkin's, which
has a survival rate of only 51% in 5 years after diagnosis.
If its spread, or that of nose
cancer, say, may be prevented by being careful with food and body fluids, why
not say so?
hepatitis B and C viruses (liver cancer);
human T-lymphotropic virus, types 1 and 2 (respectively
adult T-cell and hairy-cell leukaemia);
human herpesvirus 8 (Kaposi's sarcoma).
Take the
case of an outdoorsy Secondary 3 boy named Cao Yuanchi from Raffles Institution
who suddenly developed leukaemia within days of completing an
The
leukaemia caused fatal bleeding in his brain. Did he catch something outdoors
that triggered the fatal leukaemia?
Yet if you
could catch cancer like that, oncology doctors and nurses should have
extraordinarily high cancer rates. They don't.
However,
this could be because, first, you probably do not catch cancer viruses from the
air; and second, these professionals are meticulous in handling patient body
fluids, the possible
vehicles of
transmission of cancer viruses.
In fact,
almost 20% of cancer cases is caused by infections, mainly viruses but also at
least one food-borne bacterium called Helicobacter pylori that causes stomach
cancer.
There are
also two food-borne parasites, the Thai- and Chinese-liver flukes, which cause
cancer of the ducts that serve to drain bile from the liver into the
intestines.
The
takeaway lesson here for family members? Don't be politically correct unto
death.
Repertory:
Abdomen-Tumoren: Aur.-m-n. Bar-m. Helianth. Lob-erin. Sol-tuber.
Achselhöhlenkrebs: Ars-i. (links), Aster. Calc-sil. Chim-um. Merc-j-fl. Sil.
Adhäsionen: Bell-p. Calc-fl. Calc-sil. Fl-ac. Iris-t. (Appendix), Sil. Thiosin.
Aktinomykose: Hekla, Hippoz. Kali-j. Nit-ac. Sil.
Aluminiumvergiftung als Ursache: Bar-c. Cadm-met. Cadm-ox. Calc-ox. Plb.
Anus-Krebs: Alumn. Cond. Fuligo. Phyt, Spig. Syph.
Atherome (Grützbeutel): Agar. Bar-c. Benz, -ac. Calc-c. Con. Graph. Hep. Kali-c. Lact-ac. Lob-L, Lyc. Merc-j-r. Mez. Nat-c. Nit-ac. Olnd. Sil. Verb.
Augenkrebs/-tumor: Ars. Aur. Aur-m-n. Benz-ac. Calc-c. Con. Hep. Laur. Lyc. Phos. Sei, Sep. Sil. Staph. Sulf. Syph. Thuj. Zinc.
- Orbital-Knochentumoren/-exostosen: Kali-j. Sil. Symph. Syph.
Basaliom:
Cist. (Nase), Con. Ferr-pic. Jugl-cin. (Nase), Mill. Phyt. (Nase),
Rad-br. (Nase), Sol. Sulf.
Thuj. (Nase)
Bestrahlungen, Folgen von: Acet-ac. Arist-clem. Ars. Cadm-met. Cadm-L, Carbol-ac.
Cob-nit. Fl-ac. Phos. Pic-ac. Pluton. Rad-br. Sil. Sol. Stront-c. X-Ray
Bowen, Morbus: Cobalt-n.
Bronchienkarzinom:
Carb-v. Fl-ac. Lyc. Nicoll. Nicoll-sulf.
Brustkrebs:
Acon. (Akut, Palliativum), Allium-s. Alumn. Alum. Alum-sil. Anag. Anath.
(Sykosis, Syphilis), Apis (akut, Palliativum), Apoc-c. Arg-n. Arn. (nach einem
Schlag), Ars. Ars-i. Ars-
s-fl. Asaf. Ast-r. Aur-ars. Aur-m-n. (Ovarienerkrankung), Aur-s. Aster. Bad. (nach einem Schlag), Bar-c. (langsame Entwicklung), Bar-i. (nach einem Schlag), Bar-m. Beil. Bell-p
(nach einem Schlag). Berb-aqui. Brom. Bry (Akut,
Palliativum). Bufo (mit Mundgeruch), Cadm-fl. Cadm-met. Calc-c. Calc-fl. Calc-i. Calc-sil. Calend.
Carb-an. (rechts),
Carbo-v. Carbol-ac.
Carbn-s.
Carc. Card-benedict. Castor-e. Caust. Celastr. Cham. Chim. Chin. Cic. Cist.
Clem. Coloc. Cond. Congo-red. Con. Dulc. Gali. Elaps, Ferr-i, Formal. Form-ac.
Gnaph. Goss. Graph.
Hekla,
Helon. Hep. Hippoz. Hoang-nan, Hydr. Hyp. lod. Kali-c. Kali-chlor. (nach
einer Mastitis), Kali-i, Kali-m. Kreos. Lach. Lac-c. Lap-a. Lob-e. Lyc. Merc-j-fl. Merc-per. Merc. Murx.
Naja. Nat-cacodyl. Nat-thio-cyan. Nit-ac. Ol-an. Onosm. Ox-ac. Oxygen. PhaseoL, Phell. Phos. Phyt. Pix-l. Plb. Plb-j. Psor. (nach Verletzung), Puls.
Sabin. Sang. Sars. Scirrh. Scroph-n. Semp-tect. Sep. Skook. Sulph. Solan-ol. Sulf. Tarent-c. Teplitz. Thuj. Thyr. Tub. Urt.
Brustgeschwür nach Operation / Bestrahlungen: Hippoz. Streptom.
Brustkrebs beim Mann: Calc-p. (links), Sulph. (hinter der Brustwarze), Thuj. (Vakzinose)
Vorwort/Suchen Zeichen/Abkürzungen Impressum