First, 5 simple questions about oncology.
A person should see an oncologist if….
A person should consult an oncologist if, for example, he has visual changes in the skin, moles, etc., or long-term non-healing wounds, ulcers. Or if he has touched any growth and notices that this growth does not go away and vice versa, does not grow, but is present for a long time, or even for a short time, he must apply.
Also, when he has complaints characteristic of a specific organ system, which is long-lasting, for example, the intestines, pathological production from the anus, blood with feces, mucus, etc., he should definitely consult a doctor.
Smokers over 50, whenever they have a strange cough, weakness, fever, etc., must consult a doctor, who will examine them and refer them to an oncologist.
In general, the first visit is not to the oncologist, but it is mandatory to consult a doctor.Once the diagnosis is confirmed, what to do besides not panic?
If the tumor is already confirmed, it is necessary to contact an oncologist, not a neighbor, a relative, an acquaintance, a village doctor, etc., who will plan correctly.
What preventive checks should be done and how often?
There is a cervical cancer screening program in Armenia, the coverage is very low, people don't go, they don't apply, but it's free and it's a good screening method, it's done every 1 year, every 2 years, and it detects the disease in the early stages, which is curable . You should definitely use screening programs.
With the breast problem, especially if genetics is burdened, after the age of 40-45, they must undergo an examination every year or every 2 years, it will be a mammographic, sonographic or other examination, because early detection will lead to full recovery.
And smoking men over 50-55, if they have the opportunity, do lung CT (computed tomography, ed.) every 2 years, which will again detect early, but this is related to the cost and, unfortunately, is not yet a screening program.
What are some common myths and stereotypes about cancer?
There are, of course. Since I am also involved in drug treatment, the first stereotype is that if a person has come to see a chemotherapist, then that's it, there is no way out. I want to break that myth and say that in the treatment of most cancer diseases, drug treatment, chemotherapy, which is often done for the purpose of prevention, so that the disease does not recur in the future, takes its mandatory place.
Chemotherapy is not something unusual, it is a drug that is injected often, in a regular way, intravenously, and the effects are managed by a specialist.
Often with all kinds of tumors, people say: that's it, I have cancer, they panic for no reason. But let's say that there are benign and malignant growths, and cancer is the malignant one.
Yes. There are benign tumors that turn into malignant tumors, but benign ones remain benign mostly, there are very few cases when they turn into malignant tumors. Generally, depending on the location, the benign tumors are cured and eliminated by surgical measures. We don't call good things cancer. And in the case of malignancy, I say again, he has a high percentage of recovery, a very high percentage, there is just one problem. those people who come and get treatment for recovery often keep the information, they don't want to present that they are getting treatment, they don't talk about it, they don't talk about the good cases, the treated cases and don't make it public. We have more patients cured than lost.Is there an estimate of how many are being treated?
I can say more than half. This is a great achievement, and we must understand that cancer is treatable in any case.
Every 58th citizen in Armenia has cancer. Although the number of people diagnosed with a first-time malignancy decreased by about 17.4% - 1,500 cases - between 2017 and 2020 (2021 data is being processed), the number of people with cancer increased by 13.1% during the same period. with about 6500 cases. In 2020, 70 cases of cancer were registered among people under the age of 18. Lung cancer is the most common in men, and breast cancer in women.Is there an increasing trend of oncological diseases?
There is a growth trend all over the world, also in Armenia, but to say that we are actually very different from the rest of the world would be a lie. Statistically, we are close to the general statistics of the whole world. We had another problem. until 2019-2020 our statistics were not clear, we did not have an electronic database, only paper statistics were collected, where
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