Cancer remains one of the most feared diseases in the world. Modern medicine has made enormous progress in diagnosis and treatment, yet cancer still takes millions of lives each year and continues to challenge doctors, patients, and families alike.
Because it is so serious and so difficult to fully conquer, people across cultures have not only tried to treat cancer, but also to understand it through language, imagery, and story. That has led to some fascinating differences between East and West. In the West, cancer came to be associated with a crab. In traditional Chinese thought, it was often linked to something more like jagged stone or rock. The two images are different, but both grew out of close observation and a shared desire to make sense of a frightening disease.
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