The First Book to Read After Your Cancer Diagnosis

Since my cancer diagnosis in March 2023, I've read many (at least a few dozen) cancer books in three languages—English, Japanese, and Chinese—to learn more about cancer and how to fight it.

Some of the best cancer books I've read aren't even in English—several are in Japanese. I particularly enjoyed two books by Dr. Norihiro Sato, a Japanese oncologist specializing in pancreatic cancer:

1. 佐藤典宏: ガンとわかったら読む本 (Norihiro Sato: The Book to Read After Your Cancer Diagnosis)

2. 佐藤典宏: 専門医が教える最強のがん克服大全 エビデンスに基づく新しい対処法64 (Norihiro Sato: The Comprehensive Guide to Overcoming Cancer: 64 New Evidence-Based Approaches)

Here, I'd like to summarize some of the things I learned from the first book above. There’s much more in the book than I can summarize here, so if you can read Japanese, I highly recommend picking it up!

Key Takeaways from The Book to Read After Your Cancer Diagnosis

• Understand that cancer doesn't equal death
  • Many patients live long after diagnosis, but you rarely hear these stories.
  • It's common to experience a few weeks of intense anxiety immediately after diagnosis.
• Choose your hospital and doctor carefully
  • Consider reliability, convenience, and your initial impressions.
• Don't let your primary oncologist decide everything
  • Always seek a second opinion, especially if there are multiple treatment options—or none.
• Avoid jumping into non-standard treatments
  • The prognosis for patients who rely solely on alternative, non-standard treatments is generally poor.
• Don't worry too much about "expected survival"
  • In Japan, there's an excessive focus on survival time predictions.
  • Similarly, the "stage" of cancer doesn't tell the whole story—over 10% of Stage IV patients live more than 10 years.
• Feel lucky if surgery is an option
  • Don't just "rest" before surgery; physical activity can improve outcomes.
  • Boost your nutritional status with protein and probiotics. The Prognostic Nutritional Index (PNI) is a good predictor of prognosis.
• Don't be afraid of chemotherapy
  • Many have outdated views of chemotherapy (e.g., toxic, constant vomiting, losing hair, bedridden).
  • Advances in chemotherapy, pre-medication, and targeted therapies have significantly improved outcomes.
• Take care of your mental health
  • Practices like gratitude, meditation, stress reduction, social connection, laughter, forest bathing, and hobbies can make a difference.
• Monitor your diet after treatment
  • Reduce added sugar and carbs; focus on protein and a plant-based diet.
  • Be cautious of expensive supplements that lack scientific backing.

A Special Highlight: The Prognostic Nutritional Index (PNI)

One standout lesson from this book was learning about the PNI, which I haven’t seen mentioned in any other books. The PNI can be easily calculated using your serum albumin and total lymphocyte count from a routine blood test:

PNI Calculator

Research shows it correlates strongly with survival for many types of cancers. For example:

Sun et al., 2014. The prognostic significance of the prognostic nutritional index in cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Final Thoughts

Dr Sato's second book I mentioned above "The Comprehensive Guide to Overcoming Cancer" is also highly recommended, and I plan to cover it in a future post. Stay tuned!