Signs and symptoms of cancer include:

  • Lumps
  • Abnormal bleeding
  • Unexplained weight loss
  • Change in bowel habits

Common types of cancer:

  • Non-melanoma skin cancer - Affecting more than 1 million people a year
  • Lung cancer - causes the death of about 160,000 people annually
  • Breast cancer - most common in women
  • Prostate cancer - most common in men
  • Colorectal cancer
  • Kidney cancer - diagnosed in over 49,000 people a year
  • Leukemia

Causes of cancer:

  • Smoking causes 22% of cancer deaths
  • Obesity
  • Poor diet
  • Lack of physical activity
  • Excessive drinking of alcohol

How to prevent cancer

  • Not smoking
  • Maintaining a healthy weight
  • Not drinking too much alcohol
  • Eating plenty of vegetables, fruits and whole grains
  • Vaccination against certain infectious diseases
  • Not eating too much processed and red meat
  • Avoiding too much sunlight exposure

Detection of cancer:

In the US, 1 in 2 women and 1 in 3 men will develop cancer in their lifetime. Cancer can be detected via screening tests. It is then typically further investigated by medical imaging and confirmed by biopsy.

Treatment of cancer:

Cancer is often treated with some combination of radiation therapy, surgery, chemotherapy and targeted therapy. In general, the survival rates for each type of cancer is improving gradually.

Pain and symptom management are an important part of care. Palliative care is particularly important in people with advanced disease.

Cure for Cancer:

Ultimately, there has been no definite cure for cancer but there definitely are treatments for it. Many experts believe that the cure for cancer has already been discovered but has been banned from being utilised because of medical guidelines to prescribed medication. For example, there is a possibility that there is a cure that works on human beings but causes harm or is ineffective on lab mice, hence has been disposed of as a potential cure.

Read this post for more information on cancer and health screening in Singapore.

Recent Questions

How do you know if a black spot might be skin cancer (photo)?

Hi, any pigmented skin lesion that looks suspicious should be consulted with your doctor. Signs favouring malignancy are: changing in size or shape with time ulcerating uneven color of the lesion bizarre appearance.

Photo of Dr Benjamin Yim

Answered By

Dr Benjamin Yim

Aesthetic

What doctor should I see for a bump that could be cancerous on my vagina?

It is best to seek a detailed consultation with a gynaecologist to determine the true natural of the bump and to exclude the more serious diagnosis of cancer.

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Answered By

Dr Christopher Ng

Gynaecologist

Recent Sessions

Late Stage Breast Cancer: How to Treat It?

Ended on November 26, 2020

Dr Ooi Wei Seong is a medical oncologist and medical director at the International Cancer Specialists, Paragon Medical. Before his current practice, Dr Ooi was with the National Cancer Centre Singapore (NCCS) and Raffles Hospital. Currently, he is also a Visiting Specialist at the NCCS. His main interest lies in lung, breast, and colon cancers.

He frequents conferences around the world to continuously update his knowledge in the latest cancer treatments.

Losing a Part of You: Breast Cancer Survivors and How they Combated Breast Cancer

Ended on November 6, 2020

Dr Ooi Wei Seong is a medical oncologist and medical director at the International Cancer Specialists, Paragon Medical. He graduated from Trinity College Dublin with honours distinction in 1999.

After getting oncology training at St Vincent’s University Hospital in Dublin, he became a clinical fellow in oncology at Sunnybrook Odette Cancer Centre in Toronto, Canada. Upon returning to Singapore, he obtained his specialist accreditation in medical oncology.

Before his current practice, Dr Ooi was with the National Cancer Centre Singapore (NCCS) and Raffles Hospital. Currently, he is also a Visiting Specialist at the NCCS. His main interest lies in lung, breast, and colon cancers.

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