A few days ago, an old patient with stomach cancer sent me a message saying that his wife had just been diagnosed with stomach cancer. I remember his father was also diagnosed with stomach cancer two years ago. He told me he was worried, afraid that his children would get cancer later. At the same time, he also asked me: "If my father and I have the same disease and are related to heredity, then my wife is not related to us by blood, why do we have the same disease?" Is cancer contagious? ”
The reason why the saying "cancer infection" is widely spread in the folk is that there is no scientific research to prove this. It is because many people have found that in the same family, although there is no blood relationship between two people, there will also be a situation of cancer.
For example, "couple cancer". That is, in some families, if one person has cancer, the probability of other members of the family developing cancer will also increase, and the cancer sites may or may not be the same, and this member may cover people who are related by blood, such as father and son, mother and son, brothers and sisters, as well as husband and wife.
In 2016, a statistical data from the Third People's Hospital of Hubei Province showed:
In 2015, the hospital treated more than 10,000 cancer patients, including 40 "husband and wife cancers";
In 2014, more than 20 pairs of "couple cancer" patients were admitted;
In 2013, there were only about 20 pairs.
This is only the data of couples with cancer living in the same hospital, of course, there will be couples who are sick at the same time, but the situation of staying in different hospitals is not counted.
Why is there such a situation as "couple cancer"?
In addition to genetics, most of the factors in cancer are related to living habits and living environment. Couples live together for a long time, eat together, eat the same food, smoke and smoke second-hand smoke together...
For example, if one husband and wife have hepatitis, if the family eats at the same table with the same pot and spoon, it is easy for the family to be infected with hepatitis, and hepatitis will cause cirrhosis of the liver and then develop into liver cancer, so you should choose to divide meals and other ways when eating, and the tableware should not be mixed.
If someone in the family is infected with Helicobacter pylori, they should also be divided into meals and checked with their families to avoid the risk of stomach cancer;
Leftover meals and pickled products at home, do not eat together for a long time, drink contaminated water together for a long time; consume too much pickled food for a long time; eat leftovers together, or eat ingredients contaminated with Aspergillus aflatoma in the refrigerator; daily cooking is high-fat, high-salt, low-fiber foods, etc.; mutual influence and like to eat spicy, irritating, etc., these factors are the causes of digestive tract cancer.
Family members smoking in clusters, or smoking by one person and second-hand smoke with the whole family, may be a cause of lung cancer. If someone in the home has been smoking for a long time, it is necessary to divide the non-smoking area in the home.
If one of the spouses has a history of unclean sex, carrying the virus can easily lead to the simultaneous occurrence of penile cancer and cervical cancer.
In fact, "conjugal cancer" does not mean that one spouse has cancer and the other spouse is doomed. Instead, it will sound an alarm bell for the family, whether there is a problem with the home schedule, whether the living habits and eating habits need to be improved, and try to avoid the occurrence of "husband and wife cancer".
Professor Li Zhong made an appointment channel