If a husband and wife both suffer from cancer, is cancer "contagious"?

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A couple in Hangzhou were diagnosed with rectal cancer

Three months after his wife had surgery, her husband also got the virus.

Is it possible that cancer is contagious?

According to Dr. Shan Yuqiang, deputy director of the Department of Gastroenterology and Anorectal Surgery at Hangzhou First People's Hospital, there are many similar "couple cases" . In the past, family diseases, such as some tumors and immune system diseases, were mostly related to family inheritance. However, the couple had no blood relationship, but they both got sick, which shows that the influence of acquired factors was greater.

Today we will study:

Why do “couple cases” occur?

What is rectal cancer?

How to prevent rectal cancer?

Couple Cases

The fact that two people in a family both have rectal cancer is not because cancer is contagious, but because the patients have similar eating and living habits . Dr. Shan Yuqiang, deputy director of the Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery at Hangzhou First People's Hospital, said:

Rectal cancer is a disease that is highly correlated with people's living standards. With the improvement of living standards, the incidence of rectal cancer has also increased significantly. There are many factors that cause rectal cancer, such as genetic factors and intestinal polyps. Among them, the impact of living habits on health cannot be ignored.

For example, this couple in Hangzhou is a typical "carnivore". They cannot live without meat. Their favorite food is boiled meat, which they eat several times a week. A high-fat and high-protein diet will destroy the interaction between the intestinal microbiota, intestinal stem cells and the immune system , causing immune cells to "turn a blind eye" to cancer cells, thus providing a breeding ground for tumor growth.

Rectal cancer

Rectal cancer is one of the most common malignant tumors of the digestive tract. It tends to occur in middle-aged and elderly people, but in recent years, the trend of younger people becoming more and more obvious.

Since the symptoms of rectal cancer and bloody stools can be easily confused with hemorrhoids, patients often do not pay attention to it. When the condition is serious and goes to the hospital for diagnosis, it has already developed to the middle and late stages, which seriously affects the treatment and prognosis (the disease development predicted based on experience) of the disease and the survival time. Therefore, we must know what symptoms it will have when it lurks in our body:

1. Blood in the stool

Blood in the stool is the most common symptom of patients with rectal cancer. It is persistent and will not ease over time . The blood is mostly red or dark red, mixed with fecal mucus, or bloody and pus-filled stools, and sometimes accompanied by blood clots. However, blood in the stool of hemorrhoids is intermittent, and the symptoms will recover over time . The blood is bright red, and it mostly appears in the form of jets and outflows, and there is no other mucus in the blood.

2. Changes in bowel habits

The secretions produced by the tumor will irritate the intestines, leading to symptoms such as frequent urge to defecate and tenesmus (discomfort in the lower abdomen, a strong desire to defecate, but an inability to do so). Some patients will also experience symptoms such as long-term diarrhea.

3. Phenomenon of intestinal stenosis and obstruction

Rectal cancer can also cause intestinal stenosis and obstruction, stool formation and thinning, difficulty in defecation, constipation, flatulence and pain, etc. Due to the accumulation of feces, a strip-like mass can sometimes be felt in the lower left abdomen .

Preventing colorectal cancer

1. Pay attention to diet and develop good living habits

First of all, you should avoid consuming too much fat and red meat. Just eat in moderation. Eat more dietary fiber. Dietary fiber can promote intestinal motility, increase satiety, etc. In addition, avoid drinking alcohol.

Studies have shown that the incidence of rectal cancer in people who do not drink alcohol is significantly lower than that in people who drink alcohol. Among people who drink alcohol, the incidence of rectal cancer increases with the amount of alcohol consumed. Therefore, there is no such thing as moderate drinking. Drinking a small amount of alcohol will also increase the risk of rectal cancer.

In addition, you should develop good living habits, such as not smoking, going to bed on time, and having three meals a day; maintain an optimistic and positive attitude, and insist on moderate exercise.

2. Regular inspection

It is recommended that people over 40 years old have a physical examination once a year, which can include abdominal CT, rectal digital examination, and proctoscopy. If you suffer from chronic enteritis, rectal polyps, etc., you should increase the frequency of physical examinations. If the physical examination finds problems, radical surgery can be performed before the tumor metastasizes.

It is worth mentioning that rectal examination is a cheap and effective examination, but most people will give up this examination during physical examinations. You should know that anorectal examination can generally detect middle and lower rectal cancer within 8 cm from the anus, and can also determine the surrounding tissue invasion and resectability of middle and lower rectal cancer .

According to statistics from Life Times, about 80% of rectal cancers are discovered through rectal digital examinations, and 80% of misdiagnosed rectal cancers do not undergo rectal digital examinations. Therefore, when colorectal disease is suspected, a standardized rectal digital examination should be performed, and the importance of rectal digital examinations should never be underestimated.

In order to better cooperate with the doctor to conduct rectal digital examination smoothly and reduce your own discomfort, you need to pay attention to 4 issues before the digital examination.

• Eat a light diet before the examination and avoid excessive consumption of spicy, greasy and irritating foods to avoid affecting the examination results.

• Try to have a bowel movement before the examination to avoid affecting the results of the digital examination.

• If you have anal fissure, inform your doctor in advance to avoid worsening pain during the examination.

• If you experience any pain or discomfort during the examination, you must inform the doctor immediately so that the doctor can diagnose the disease.

Finally, the digital rectal examination process is actually very quick and can be completed in one or two minutes. Don't give up this examination because you are shy.