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Fighting cancer through an informed society

Social perceptions play an extremely important role in the lives of cancer patients and survivors. Society is a machinery which can dictate the behavioral pattern of a patient, the kind of treatment he/she seeks or believes in, and the treatment he/she finally takes. Proper education of the society, in general, with regard to various aspects of cancer and its treatment can make things easier for patients, their families and the treating physicians alike. False social beliefs create unsurmountable hurdles for both patients and their families. When families of cancer patients visit a doctor, very often they tend to describe the experience of one or more of their close or distant family members with cancer. They start reliving the same experience if it was bad, or they may develop a false sense of security about the curability if it was good. In both situations, it becomes difficult for them to understand that each cancer is different from the other, cancer being a heterogenous disease. Moreover, what the patients and their families hear from friends and their social support system about cancer in general makes them depressed, anxious, and vulnerable. The information they get from the Internet and print media is mostly unregulated and may present extreme views which compound their problems. In this review, we have analyzed some of the common perceptions and myths which we come across in clinical practice and have presented scientific data to refute or support these beliefs wherever suitable.