With many still mourning legendary rock star David Bowie and actor Alan Rickman, the world this week put the spotlight on cancer, which is responsible for a quarter of deaths in the EU.

The more we learn about the biological causes of cancer, the more prevention remains the best remedy by far, according to oncologist Stephen Brincat.

“Once established, cancer is extremely hard to get rid of. All the wonderful magic bullets promised so far, have to a large extent, been disappointing.”

This did not mean there has been no progress, as more cancers are being cured, while even when incurable, patients are living better and longer.

However, just considering the therapeutic philosophy of chemotherapy and new biological drugs, they are almost bound to fail in the long run, with few exceptions, if the cancer is widespread.

The dictum of prevention being better than cure held very well in cancer, Dr Brincat insisted. “Besides, most of the lifestyle changes that reduce the risk of cancer also make us healthier and even aesthetically better… It’s also much cheaper.”

The two most important lifestyle factors causing cancer are smoking and obesity. Excessive alcohol and exposure to the sun, which also causes skin ageing, should also be avoided.

If your car begins to make a new noise, you’d probably go see your mechanic. The same rule should apply to your body

Stay away from drugs, have safe sex, and go easy on bacon and processed foods, Dr Brincat warned. While this was an incomplete list of what to avoid, exercising topped the list of what to do.

However, there is still a lot of cancer nobody yet knew how to prevent, and living longer made us more prone to cancer.

Asked about catching this disease early, Dr Brincat noted that a cancer would not produce symptoms until it reached a certain size containing many millions of cells.

Still, looking out for changes in our body and doing something about it was probably one of the best ways to catch it early.

Cancer can produce a multitude of symptoms, some of which may seem trivial or explainable by some other reason. However, coughing up blood, unnatural bleeding from any orifice, or unexplained weight loss or pain should immediately sound alarm bells.

“If your car begins to make a new noise, you’d probably go see your mechanic. The same rule should apply to your body.”

When you lose a relative to the disease

When someone is diagnosed with cancer, they are “thrown into a storm that has not been forecast” together with their relatives, and their life changes overnight.

So Hospice Malta stands by these families to help them embrace the fear of the unknown.

“We don’t have the magic wand, but we try to help them cope and most of the time, their strength and resilience shine through,” social worker Gloria Spiteri told this newspaper, flanked by her colleague Luisa Bugeja.

“It’s not easy. If you’re used to seeing your mum always on the go, and she is suddenly confined to a bed and fearful, you’re faced with a reversal of roles, and you feel helpless,” Ms Bugeja explained.

Hospice Malta continues to support the family when the person with cancer passes away and provides bereavement support.

Grieving is a normal process and you go through shock, denial, sadness and sometimes anger. Others could fall victim to apathy and depression, while some are overcome with a sense of guilt that they could have done more.

“It’s OK not to be OK, and it’s normal to feel sad because of the huge loss of your relative and any future plans that died away with them,” Ms Spiteri noted.

Ms Bugeja recalled an incident of a woman who had survived her husband and compared being called a widow to wearing a dress she had not chosen, so she was not comfortable in it.

Society should learn to empathise, rather than sympathise with those who lost someone to a chronic illness.

While there is no set formula, the best way is to express sorrow and listen to them without using phrases such as “come on, be strong”. For some, being strong means not being afraid to cry.

More information on 2144 0085 or info@hospicemalta.org.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.