「Anticancer: A New Way of Life」由法國醫師暨科學家 David Servan-Schreiber(1961-2011)撰寫,他本身是一位腦科學專家與精神科醫師。作者在 31 歲時因偶然檢查而發現自己罹患腦瘤,經過手術與復發後,他開始尋求傳統治療以外的方法,研究飲食、生活方式與心靈狀態對癌症的影響。此書結合醫學研究、臨床案例及作者的親身經歷,強調「抗癌是一種生活方式」,透過飲食調整(如抗發炎食材)、壓力管理、適度運動與情緒平衡,幫助人體免疫系統對抗癌症。作者的真實故事讓書中觀點更具說服力,也啟發了許多癌症患者與一般讀者。
核心觀念是「內在環境」與癌症的關係。Servan-Schreiber 認為現代人的飲食與壓力模式削弱了身體的防禦力,因此要建立一種「不利於癌症生長」的生活方式。書中提出的建議包括:多攝取富含抗氧化物的天然食物(如綠茶、莓果、蔬菜)、少吃精緻糖類及反式脂肪;重視正念冥想與心理平衡,因為慢性壓力與情緒壓抑會降低免疫功能;並透過有氧運動與適當休息來增強自癒力。該書不僅是醫學與營養的結合,也是一種鼓勵人們積極面對生活的健康哲學。
以下摘要書中重點與您分享:Cancer lies dormant in all of us. Like all living organisms, our bodies are making defective cells all the time. That’s how tumours are born. But our bodies are also equipped with a number of mechanisms that detect and keep such cells in check.

癌症潛藏在我們所有人體內。就像所有生物一樣,我們的身體一直在製造有缺陷的細胞。這就是腫瘤的誕生方式。但我們的身體也具備多種機制,能夠偵測並控制這些細胞。
癌症的「種子」普遍存在於人體,身體會不斷產生缺陷細胞,進而形成腫瘤。然而,人體也擁有一系列天然防禦機制,能有效地偵測並控制這些異常細胞的生長,使其保持在潛伏狀態,從而避免患癌。
Cancer sometimes cures this strange nearsightedness, this dance of hesitations. By exposing life’s brevity, a diagnosis of cancer can restore life’s true flavour. A few weeks after my diagnosis, I had the odd feeling a veil had been lifted that until then had dimmed my sight. One Sunday afternoon, in the small sunny room of our tiny house, I was looking at Anna. Focused and peaceful, she was sitting on the floor near the coffee table, trying her hand at translating French poems into English. For the first time, I saw her as she was, without wondering whether I should prefer someone else. I simply saw the lock of hair that slipped gracefully forward when she leaned her head on her book, the delicacy of her fingers gently grasping the pen. I was surprised that I had never noticed how touching the slightest contractions of her jaw could be when she had trouble.

癌症有時能治癒這種奇怪的近視眼,這種猶豫不決的舞蹈。透過揭露生命的短暫,癌症的診斷可以恢復生命的真正滋味。在診斷後幾週,我有一種奇怪的感覺,好像一層面紗被揭開了,直到那時都模糊了我的視線。一個星期天下午,在我們小房子的陽光房裡,我望著安娜。她專注而平靜地坐在咖啡桌旁的地上,試著將法文詩翻譯成英文。這是第一次,我看到了她本來的樣子,沒有去想我是否應該喜歡別人。我只是看到她靠在書本上時,髮絲優雅地滑落,她輕輕握筆的纖細手指。我驚訝地發現,當她找不到要找的字時,她下巴最輕微的收縮是多麼動人,我以前從未注意到。
癌症診斷雖然帶來挑戰,卻能奇異地揭示生命的真實價值,迫使人們面對生命的短暫,從而重新感受生活的本質與美好。作者以親身經歷為例,說明病痛如何讓他以嶄新的視角看待伴侶,體會到過往忽略的細膩之美與深層連結。
When I asked an eminent professor of oncology this question three years ago, he came up with an array of answers meant to reassure the public. ‘There is nothing surprising about this phenomenon,’ he said. ‘As people are living longer today, compared to 1940, it’s normal for the cancer rate to be higher. Besides, women give birth much later so they are more likely to have breast cancer. Taking into account early screening, there are a greater number of cases recorded.’ His message was simple: we shouldn’t be misled by alarmists calling upon heaven knows what mysterious factors. On the contrary, we need to step up research to improve treatment and early detection, the two pillars of modern oncology. Like many of my colleagues, and like many other patients, I wanted to believe

三年前,當我向一位知名的腫瘤學教授提出這個問題時,他提出了一連串的答案,希望能讓大眾安心。他說:『這種現象並不令人驚訝。他說:『與 1940 年相比,現今人們的壽命越來越長,因此罹癌率較高是很正常的現象。此外,婦女生育的時間更晚,所以她們更容易罹患乳癌。考慮到早期篩檢,有更多病例記錄在案』。他傳達的訊息很簡單:我們不應該被危言聳聽的人所誤導,天知道是什麼神秘的因素。相反地,我們需要加強研究以改善治療和早期發現,這是現代腫瘤學的兩大支柱。和我的許多同事一樣,也和許多其他病人一樣,我想要相信他。
儘管癌症發病率上升趨勢顯著,一些腫瘤學專家曾試圖透過歸因於人口老化、生育年齡延後及早期篩檢等因素來安撫大眾,強調現代腫瘤學應專注於治療與早期檢測。然而,作者指出這些解釋不足以完全涵蓋癌症的實際增長,特別是年輕群體及非篩檢癌症的增幅。
Clearly, in every country there is a direct connection between the cancer rate and the consumption of meat, cold cuts and milk products. Conversely, the richer a country’s diet in vegetables and legumes (peas, beans, lentils), the lower the cancer rate.

很明顯,每個國家的癌症發生率都與肉類、冷切肉和奶類產品的食用量有直接關係。相反,一個國家的飲食中蔬菜和豆類(豌豆、豆子、扁豆)越豐富,癌症發病率就越低。
全球數據明確顯示,各國的癌症發生率與肉類、冷切肉和奶製品的攝取量呈現正相關。反之,飲食中富含蔬菜和豆類的國家,其癌症發生率則顯著較低,這強烈暗示飲食結構對癌症風險有直接影響。
For the first time, Béliveau wondered whether chemical molecules contained in certain foods were powerful anticancer agents. What’s more, over 5,000 years of human experimentation, these foods would have already proven that they were harmless. He had finally hit on something that could be offered to children without exposing them to the slightest risk: anticancer foods or, as Béliveau liked to call them, ‘nutraceuticals’.

Béliveau 第一次想到,某些食物中含有的化學分子是否具有強大的抗癌作用。更重要的是,經過五千年的人類實驗,這些食物已經證明是無害的。他終於發現了一些可以提供給兒童而又不會讓他們冒絲毫風險的東西:抗癌食品,或者,Béliveau 喜歡稱之為『營養保健品』。
Richard Béliveau 教授開始探索食物中的化學分子是否具備強效抗癌能力,並將其命名為「營養保健品」。他強調這些經過數千年人類食用驗證的食物,不僅對抗癌有潛力,且無害,甚至可安全地提供給兒童,為癌症預防與治療提供天然且低風險的途徑。
The anticancer diet is principally composed of vegetables (and legumes) accompanied by olive (or canola, or flaxseed) oil or organic butter, garlic, herbs and spices. Meat or eggs are optional. They don’t represent the main ingredient of the plate. They are there primarily for added taste.* This is exactly the opposite of a typical Western dish (a large slice of meat in the middle with a few vegetables on the side).

抗癌飲食主要由蔬菜(和豆類)組成,搭配橄欖油(或芥花籽油、亞麻籽油)或有機奶油、大蒜、香草和香料。肉類或蛋是可選的。它們不代表盤中的主要成分。它們主要用於增添風味。 這與典型的西式菜餚(中間一大塊肉,旁邊擺一些蔬菜)恰好相反。
抗癌飲食的核心是蔬菜和豆類,輔以健康脂肪及香料,肉類或蛋僅作為配角以增添風味。這種飲食模式顛覆了傳統西方飲食以肉為主的習慣,旨在透過食物的搭配,最大化攝取抗癌分子,並利用其協同作用來支持身體的防禦機制。
Whatever the personality type, certain ordeals are experienced as ‘second traumas’ that reopen poorly healed wounds and inspire feelings of helplessness, despair and abandonment. We know today that these feelings – helplessness in particular – can weigh heavily on psychological and biological balance. One of my therapist colleagues calls this the ‘hit and sink’ phenomenon, referring to the children’s game of ‘Battleships’. The first wound, from childhood, is difficult but manageable. When a second ‘hit’ strikes exactly the same spot, the entire psychological and even the physical structure may collapse.* At Emory University in Atlanta, the laboratory of Charles B. Nemeroff, MD, PhD, published a recent study that fits with this model of ‘hit and sink’. In depressed adult patients with a history of trauma in early childhood, inflammation factors – those that contribute to the development of cancer – react particularly strongly to laboratory-induced stress.

無論是哪種人格類型,某些磨難都會被體驗為『第二次創傷』,重新打開癒合不良的傷口,並激發無助感、絕望和被遺棄的感覺。我們今天知道,這些感受 — 特別是無助感 — 會嚴重影響心理和生理平衡。我的一位治療師同事稱之為『命中即沉』現象,指的是兒童遊戲『戰艦』。第一次的創傷,來自童年,雖然困難但可應付。當第二次『命中』打擊到完全相同的位置時,整個心理甚至生理結構都可能崩潰。 在亞特蘭大埃默里大學,查爾斯·B·內梅羅夫醫學博士的實驗室發表了一項近期研究,符合這種『命中即沉』的模型。在有童年早期創傷史的憂鬱症成年患者中,炎症因子 — 那些有助於癌症發展的因子 — 對實驗室誘導的壓力反應特別強烈。
心理創傷,尤其是在童年時期的未癒合傷口,若再次受到打擊(「命中即沉」現象),會嚴重破壞個體的心理與生理平衡,加劇無助、絕望感。研究顯示,有早期創傷史的憂鬱症患者,其體內與癌症發展相關的炎症因子對壓力反應特別強烈,凸顯心理狀態對身體健康的深遠影響。
There are many different ways to tell our body it matters, that it is loved and respected, and to get it to sense its own desire to live. The best way is to let it practise what it was designed for: movement and physical activity. Several studies have demonstrated that the regulation and defence mechanisms that contribute to fighting cancer can be directly stimulated by exercise.

有許多不同的方法可以告訴我們的身體它是重要的,它是被愛和尊重的,並讓它感受到自己對生命的渴望。最好的方法就是讓它實踐它的設計目的:運動和體能活動。多項研究顯示,運動可以直接刺激有助於對抗癌症的調節和防禦機制。
強調運動和體能活動是激發身體自癒能力和生命力的關鍵。多項研究證實,規律的運動能直接刺激體內對抗癌症的調節與防禦機制。透過活動身體,我們不僅能表達對身體的重視與愛,更能有效強化其對抗疾病的自然防禦力。
The key ideas I have presented in this book, and that I use every day for my own protection, can be summed up in three points: 1. the importance of our ‘terrain’; 2. the effects of awareness; 3. the synergy of natural forces.

我在這本書中提出的主要觀點,以及我每天用來保護自己的觀點,可以歸納為以下三點:1. 我們『地形』的重要性;2. 意識的影響;3. 自然力量的協同作用。
總結本書核心觀點為三項抗癌關鍵:首先,「地形」的重要性,即身體內環境對癌症發展的影響;其次,意識對健康狀態的影響;最後,透過整合飲食、運動及心理平衡等天然力量,發揮其協同作用以對抗癌症。
結語
癌症並非外來入侵者,而是與人體內部環境息息相關的產物。作者指出,我們的身體每天都可能產生有缺陷的細胞,但若能維持良好的內在環境,這些細胞將難以成長為腫瘤。因此,透過均衡飲食(多蔬菜、豆類、香草、健康油脂,少肉類與乳製品)、適度運動與壓力管理,我們可以激活身體本身的防禦系統,達到「養生抗癌」的目的。這樣的生活方式不僅有助於降低罹癌風險,也有望促進長壽與身心健康。
此外,作者深刻描繪了癌症對生命觀的衝擊與轉化力量。當面臨疾病威脅時,人們往往會重新體悟生活的美好,回歸當下與內心,進而改變對生命的態度。書中並援引研究指出,未癒合的心理創傷會影響免疫與發炎反應,可能加劇癌症風險;相對地,透過運動、自我關懷與與他人連結,我們可以重新喚起生命的渴望與活力。本書提供的不只是醫學建議,更是一種以「自我主動照顧」為核心的長壽養生哲學。