How many years does it take to go from inflammation to cancer? Doctors caution that there are five types of inflammation that are at high risk of developing cancer

“I suffer from chronic atrophic gastritis for many years, can you become gastric cancer?”

“If I have hepatitis, will I get liver cancer later?”

“I have chronic prostatitis. Will I develop prostate cancer?”

In life, many people have inflammation, and now talk about the age of cancer color change, we are more concerned about the prevention and treatment of cancer, some chronic diseases also dare not relax, for fear of a careless development of cancer. What’s the connection between “inflammation” and “cancer”? I’m going to answer it today.

What is inflammation?

Inflammation, what we call inflammation, can occur in any part of the body, such as the skin, eyes, throat, even the stomach, liver, and so on.

Inflammation is a protective response of organisms characterized by the activation of immune and non-immune cells, the elimination of pathogens, and the promotion of tissue repair and recovery to protect the host from bacteria, viruses, toxins and infections. In other words, inflammation is a unified process of injury and anti-injury. Inflammation is characterized by redness, swelling, heat, pain, and dysfunction. Excessive inflammation can also lead to autoimmune diseases.

Is there a connection between “inflammation” and “cancer”?

Any factor that can cause tissue and cell damage can be the cause of inflammation, such as physical factors, high heat, low temperature, ultraviolet light, radiation, etc. Bacterial and viral infections can also cause inflammation. If the immune response state of the body is abnormal, causing inappropriate or excessive immune response, resulting in cell and tissue damage, inflammation.

Inflammation and cancer are just one word apart. Are they related? With the improvement of medical treatment, more and more studies have shown that the occurrence, development and metastasis of tumors are closely related to inflammation. This means that inflammation, stimulated by a variety of factors, can develop into cancer.

Professor Virchow in Germany believes that “tumours arise from chronic inflammation”. One in six cancers in the world is caused by bacterial and viral infections, according to a report by the International Centre for Cancer Research.

Other studies have also shown that more than 20% of tumors are caused by chronic inflammation caused by infection, and the most common ones are hepatitis and liver cancer, HPV and cervical cancer, helicobacter pylori and stomach cancer, EBV and nasopharyngeal cancer.

On the one hand, there are a large number of inflammatory mediators and free radicals in the inflammatory sites, which are involved in DNA damage and can promote the inactivation of tumor suppressor genes, leading to cell malignant transformation and further the formation of tumors. On the other hand, some tumors themselves can also release inflammatory factors, causing local hypoxia and nutrient deficiency, leading to cell necrosis.

However, not all inflammation causes cancer, and chronic inflammation is more likely to cause cell canceration than acute inflammation. In addition, inflammatory tissue canceration usually needs more than 10 years of time, therefore, to actively intervene in inflammation, timely treatment, so as not to aggravate inflammation, inducing cancer.

Watch out for 5 types of chronic inflammation to avoid developing cancer

Hepatitis,

The evolutionary history of liver cancer is a process from “hepatitis – cirrhosis – liver cancer”. According to the data, the annual incidence of chronic hepatitis B progressing to liver cirrhosis is 0.4-14.2%, and about 4%-6% of cirrhosis patients develop liver cancer on average every year.

Without standardized treatment, liver cells are continually and repeatedly damaged by inflammation, increasing their chances of becoming cancerous. So, got hepatitis to want active treatment, take antiviral medicaments below the guidance of the doctor, at the same time bland diet, stay away from tobacco and alcohol, check regularly, control illness effectively.

· Chronic atrophic gastritis

Chronic atrophic gastritis is a precancerous disease of gastric cancer, but it is not impossible to develop gastric cancer. According to statistics, the incidence of moderate and severe atrophic gastritis and gastric cancer is 0.5%.

The progression and evolution of CHRONIC atrophic gastritis are affected by many factors, such as long-term smoking and drinking, repeated infection with Helicobacter pylori, family history of gastric cancer, unhealthy diet, etc. If not paid attention, the possibility of cancer will be increased.

Therefore, doctors suggest that patients with chronic atrophic gastritis do a good job in maintaining their stomach, give up smoking and limit alcohol, avoid excessive intake of salt, eat less pickled and fried foods, and have regular review.

· Chronic ulcerative colitis

Chronic ulcerative colitis has the characteristics of early onset age, wide lesion range and poor long-term control.

Studies have shown that patients with chronic ulcerative colitis with a course of more than 20 years have a 10-15 times higher risk of developing colon cancer.

Therefore, once the discovery of chronic ulcerative colitis, should be early surgical treatment, so as not to miss tumor foci.

Ulcerative colitis is a lifelong disease, and it is particularly important for patients to manage themselves, such as eating fewer and more meals, quitting smoking and drinking alcohol, taking moderate exercise, combining work with rest, and regularly reviewing colonoscopy, to minimize the risk of cancer.

Acute pancreatitis,

Five-year survival for pancreatic cancer

Studies have found that there is a certain relationship between chronic pancreatitis and the incidence of pancreatic cancer, and the incidence of pancreatic cancer in patients with chronic pancreatitis is significantly increased.

Therefore, it is the key to prevent pancreatic cancer to give up smoking and limit alcohol, avoid long-term intake of high-protein, high-sugar and high-fat food, and detect and treat chronic pancreatitis as early as possible.

Cervicitis,

The earlier a cancer is detected, the higher the cure rate. Generally speaking, it takes about 6 to 8 years for cervical cancer to develop from early inflammation to malignant cancer. Therefore, active treatment of hysteritis is of great significance for the prevention and treatment of cervical cancer.

So the expert suggests 30 years old above female, had better every half an year or a year do 1 department of gynaecology examination. The HPV vaccine can also reduce the risk of cervical cancer.

All sorts of changes that occur in the human body are inextricably linked. Who can think of a small inflammation that could actually lead to cancer? This also reminds us to take our health seriously, find abnormalities in time, and seek medical advice actively, so as not to delay the illness and cause more serious consequences.