Bugs That Cause Cancer- And What You Can Do About It

I found this in this doctor's blog website..

The two easiest ways to help to prevent two common cancers is easily obtainable but not generally known to the public.


Stomach cancer, which is the second leading cause of deaths due to cancer, shows a worldwide incidence but seems to be more common in the Far East where it is attributable to the consumption of pickled and salted foods. However, it is now known that a cause of stomach cancer is a bug well-known for causing stomach and duodenal ulcers, called Helicobacter pylori (H pylori). Now, researchers have shown that if they were to eliminate this bug from those suffering from early stages of this cancer, they were able to effect a cure. Read more of this here.

More doctors believe that if one’s stomach contains these bugs,it may be better to rid of them by swallowing a course of antibiotics.

For patients having symptoms suggestive of stomach ulcers(the non-cancerous kind), the presence of H pylori can easily be detected by a few easy ways, including breath tests and blood sampling. Sometimes, a scope needs to be inserted into the stomach to obtain tissue samples. Once the test is confirmed positive, a 2-week course of antibiotics that includes one or more of these -lansoprazole, amoxycillin or clarithromycin- is given to eliminate this bug from the stomach.

Primary liver cancer, the fifth most common cancer in the world, is a deadly cancer for which the outlook is bad as, by the time someone has symptoms, the cancer is far-advanced and has spread to other organs. Again, a bug - the hepatitis B virus-has been identified to be the cause in 50% of primary liver cancers aka hepatocellular carcinoma, aka hepatoma.

The role of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection in causing liver cancer is well established. So much so, an effective means of prevention is to get Hepatitis B immunisation shots after a prior blood test has confirmed the absence of previous infection due to hepatitis B virus. In most countries in Asia, it is already mandatory for all newborns to be immunised, so there is a real chance that the incidence of liver cancer due to hepatitis B will fall dramatically in the near future.

On other note, my father passed away due to liver cancer. So do take this seriously.