For most types of cancer, medicine can now promise high cure rates or at least many years without symptoms. Some tumors resist all forms of therapy: they grow quickly and aggressively or only show up when they can no longer be stopped.
There has been a lot of good news about the dreaded disease “cancer” in recent years, especially with regard to the chances of healing and surviving the most common types of cancer. If a tumor is discovered in time, nine out of ten women with breast cancer and nine out of ten men with prostate cancer survive the critical five-year mark. Even with skin cancer, the recovery rate is more than 90 percent.
Things are not looking so good for other types of cancer: they either resist treatment options or grow so fast that they are only discovered when it is almost too late.
These aggressive types of cancer then also have very poor survival rates. However, and this is the good news, the risk factors can be reduced even for these tumors. In general, doctors assume that around half of all cancers can be avoided through a healthy lifestyle.
The pancreas produces the hormone insulin for blood sugar metabolism. It also produces digestive juices. It has its own specialized tissue for both functions. Most malignant tumors develop in the tissue that produces digestive juices.
How many people get sick?
According to cancer registry data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), around 17,000 people in Germany developed pancreatic carcinoma in 2014 (latest published figures). Just as many sick people died. Men and women are equally affected. The average age of onset is over 70 years.
Why the cancer is so aggressive:
Malignant cell changes in the pancreas do not cause any symptoms for a long time, so that the tumor is only recognized at an advanced stage. Discovered early, a cure would be quite possible. As soon as surgical removal of the tumor is no longer possible, the probability of survival decreases.
Avoidable risk factors:
Risk factors include smoking, including passive smoking, being overweight and type 2 diabetes.
Survival Rate:
Pancreatic carcinoma has the lowest survival rates of all cancers: According to the RKI, only nine percent of patients reach the five-year mark.
Cancer in the detoxification organ usually develops from cirrhosis of the liver when liver tissue converts to connective tissue. Chronic liver inflammation, such as hepatitis B or non-alcoholic fatty liver hepatitis, is also the cause of cancer.
How many people get sick?
In the past 30 years, the number of new cases has doubled in both men and women. In Germany there are currently (RKI 2014) around 9000 new cases of illness per year and almost 8000 deaths. Significantly more men are affected. The RKI numbers from 2014 for new cases: 6370 men compared to 2710 women.
Why the cancer is so aggressive:
The first signs of liver cancer only appear in the advanced stages of the disease. This limits the therapy options. For example, classic chemotherapy with strong cell toxins is not an option for a liver with reduced functional tissue. Surgery is also only possible if there is enough healthy liver left. In three out of four cases, liver cancer cannot be surgically removed by the time it is diagnosed.
In the case of liver carcinomas, after initially successful treatment, the tumor often recurs.
Avoidable risk factors:
Alcohol consumption is responsible for 15 percent of liver cancer diagnoses in women and 35 percent in men in Germany. High drug consumption is also considered a risk factor for the organ that has to break down toxins in the body.
Survival Rate:
The average five-year survival rate for liver cancer is 12 percent.
Our PDF guide explains the most important functions of the liver and how to combat symptoms such as feelings of fullness.
A tumor in the bronchi or the tissue of the lungs is one of the most common cancers. Around 80 percent of patients are diagnosed with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), and 20 percent develop small cell lung cancer (SCLC).
How many people get sick?
More than 50,000 people in Germany develop lung or bronchial tumors every year. While the number of cases has risen steadily in women in recent years, the rate in men has fallen. According to the RKI, there were 34,560 men and 19,280 women in 2014. 29,560 men and 15,524 women died in the same year.
Why the cancer is so aggressive:
In general, lung cancer does not cause any particular symptoms at first. It is therefore not discovered until late, which in turn is responsible for the low chance of healing. In the case of lung tumors discovered late, successful initial treatment often leads to a relapse in the next two or three years.
This is particularly tragic in the case of small cell lung cancer (SCLC), which grows and spreads rapidly. The majority of patients are not diagnosed until the fourth stage of the disease, when metastases are already present. Surgery is rarely considered, at most for very small and localized tumors in the first stage. However, the cancer is only discovered that early in five percent of those who become ill.
Avoidable risk factors:
Smoking, but also high exposure to exhaust fumes, fine dust and smog promote the development of lung cancer.
Survival Rate:
Of the common cancers, lung cancer has the worst prognosis. After five years, only 15 percent of male and 20 percent of female patients are still alive.
Cancer of the brain is rare. It accounts for less than two percent of all malignant tumors. There are several subspecies with very different healing rates. For example, children, who are affected relatively often, have different tumors than adults. Cure rates reach more than 90 percent. In adults, the most common brain tumor is the most malignant, glioblastoma.
How many people get sick?
In 2014, the Robert Koch Institute in Germany registered around 6,700 new cases of brain tumors, 230 of them children. 5770 people died from this disease in 2015. Every year around 2,500 people in Germany are diagnosed with a glioblastoma – an extremely aggressive brain tumor and one of the most aggressive cancers in adulthood. Men have higher morbidity and mortality rates than women. The average age at onset is in the mid-60s.
Why the cancer is so aggressive:
Glioblastomas grow rapidly, on average this tumor doubles in size every 50 days. It grows so fast that even the blood vessels cannot keep up with transporting blood to its interior: the core of the glioblastoma dies, but the cancer continues to grow.
Avoidable risk factors:
Lifestyle factors have no influence on brain tumors.
Survival Rate:
The five-year survival rate for all brain tumors is just over 20 percent, with glioblastomas having a significantly poorer prognosis at around five percent. The median survival time is 15 months from the time of diagnosis.
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In leukemia, immature blood cells multiply uncontrollably. If there are a lot of them, they crowd out healthy blood cells. A distinction is made between acute and chronic leukaemias. Acute leukemias are severe diseases that occur suddenly and, if left untreated, lead to death within a few weeks, while chronic leukemias show a slower, more gradual course of the disease.
How many people get sick?
Around 13,700 people fell ill with leukemia in Germany in 2014. About 40 percent of them were diagnosed with the chronic lymphatic form (CLL), and 21 percent with acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) comprised only seven percent of those affected.
The risk of developing leukemia is high in early childhood, decreases with age and increases again after the age of 30. Men are affected slightly more often than women.
Why the cancer is so aggressive:
The symptoms are non-specific, and a harmless infection could also be behind them. At the same time, the diseased blood cells flood the organism. In addition, the risk of recurrence with this type of cancer is high.
Avoidable risk factors:
Lifestyle has no influence on leukemia. X-rays or radioactive rays probably promote the formation.
Survival Rate:
Those affected who were diagnosed in childhood live by far the longest, while the acute forms in adults continue to have a rather poor prognosis. The five-year survival probability in childhood is around 92 percent (ALL) or 74 percent (AML), but decreases significantly with increasing age at diagnosis. It is 23 percent for AML.
Experts from the German Cancer Research Institute (DKFZ) estimate that up to 50 percent of all cancers can be traced back to an unhealthy lifestyle. Cancer experts have therefore created a “European Cancer Code” with ten anti-cancer rules. This reduces your risk of cancer by about 40 percent.
1. Don’t smoke
Tobacco smoke is risk factor number 1 and responsible for 19 percent of all new cancer cases in 2018. The countless carcinogenic substances not only increase the risk of lung cancer, but also for tumors in the pancreas, bladder, kidneys, mouth and throat, stomach or esophagus.
2. Avoid being overweight
Almost as serious is the risk factor obesity. The experts at the DKFZ consider it proven that an increased body fat percentage increases the risk of at least eleven types of cancer. First and foremost are breast and colon cancer.
3. Exercise daily
Overall, scientists estimate that a lack of exercise caused six percent of new cancer cases in Germany in 2018. The code recommends at least 150 minutes of moderate exercise or 75 minutes of vigorous physical activity.
4. Eat fresh fruits and vegetables
Scientists estimate that in Germany in 2018 around eight percent of all new cancer cases can be traced back to unhealthy eating habits. Eating a varied and fresh diet reduces the risk of carcinomas in the esophagus, stomach, intestines and pancreas.
“How to prevent with the right nutrition, support healing and gain strength” by Volkmar Nüssler
5. Avoid heavily processed meats and sausages
Sausage, highly processed and red meat have been on the list of carcinogens since 2015.
6. Drink little alcohol
Those who regularly drink alcohol not only increase their risk of liver cancer, but also of all types of tumors in the digestive tract. It should not be more than two drinks a day for men or one drink for women.
7. Protect yourself from the sun
UV rays fall into category 1 of the carcinogens, as do tobacco smoke and highly processed meat. For skin cancer, the sun is clearly the main risk factor that you can easily avoid.
8. Avoid carcinogenic substances
Some risk factors are in the air, such as fine dust, radon or ionizing radiation that occurs during medical examinations. Environmental pollutants can trigger tumors of the lungs, bladder or skin.
9. Get yourself and your children vaccinated
Liver cell cancer often develops after infection with hepatitis B or C – especially in children. Not least because of this, the Standing Committee on Vaccination (STIKO) recommends vaccination against hepatitis B for all infants and young children.
Human papillomaviruses (HPV) infect cells of the skin or mucous membrane. The HPV vaccination protects against precancerous lesions in the cervix, anus, in the genital area and in the oropharynx.
10. Especially for women: breastfeed and be careful with hormone preparations
Experts advise mothers to breastfeed their children – also to reduce their risk of breast cancer. During menopause, women should be cautious about using hormone replacement therapy because of the risk of breast cancer.