Terminally ill
Psycho-neuroimmunology has the answer.
According to statistics from the global medical literature
Per 100,000 cancer patients
About one person
You experience a phenomenon called spontaneous remission.
That is to say
Their cancer
Without adequate treatment
Partial or even complete disappearance
You might think
One in 100,000
The probability is too low
What does it have to do with me?
But think about it another way.
There are almost 20 million new cases of cancer every year.
One in 100,000 means maybe 200 a year.
There are about 10 documented cases of spontaneous remission
Not reported
Maybe more.
So here's the problem.
Of the 200 or so documented cases
So what happened?
What did they do?
Or do nothing
Let the cancer go away on its own
But here's the thing.
Can this process be understood?
Can it be replicated?
Hello
Hello.
I am Wang Lijie
I'm going to take apart the topic today.
It's not about spiritual healing.
It is not a positive energy that inspires the universe
But a serious
Scientific questions supported by a wealth of medical literature
Here's what I'm going to do.
Using the cognitive framework that our channel has established
Especially predictive coding and positive mind-body feedback closed loop
To explain the possible neuroimmunological mechanisms behind spontaneous remission
Let's look at the data first
1993
A research organization called IONS released a book
It's called Spontaneous Remission: An Annotated Bibliography.
It was founded by Apollo XIV.
Moon landing astronaut Edgar Mitchell
After his return from the moon, he underwent a profound shift in consciousness
I spent the rest of my life studying the nature of consciousness
I told his story earlier in the Space Overview Effect issue
This book does something really important that no one had systematically done before.
It publishes more than 800 medical journals worldwide
Cases of spontaneous remission reported in 20 languages
All collected and organized together
It ended up with over 3,500 cases.
This is the largest database of spontaneous responses in the world at that time
2025
This database has been updated to an online searchable version
The extension includes new cases up to 2025
Attention
This is not a collection of testimonials from a spiritual community
Every one of these cases is from a paper in a legitimate medical journal.
There is a diagnostic record
There is radiographic evidence
There is a pathology report
The medical definition of spontaneous remission is very strict
Without treatment
Or the treatment received is considered insufficient to produce the effect
Partial or complete disappearance of a disease or tumor
In other words
According to existing medical knowledge
These people shouldn't be fine
But they are fine
Now the second key source of data
University of California, Berkeley
There's a researcher named Kelly Turner
She got her Ph.D. on spontaneous remission.
She went to 10 different countries.
Fifty alternative therapies were interviewed face-to-face
The therapist and 20 survivors of spontaneous remission
And she expanded on that.
Ultimately analyzed over 1,500 cases of spontaneous remission
Turner discovered a very interesting phenomenon
In these cases
And she identified 75 possible correlations.
But there are nine factors.
Repeated in almost all cases
These nine factors were later written into a New York Times bestseller by her
Chinese reference translation name < Complete Relief >
I will read these nine factors to you
You pay attention
Don't jump to conclusions after listening
See what your gut feeling will tell you
first
Revolutionize your diet
second
Take control of your own health decisions
third
Follow your instincts
fourth
Use of herbal remedies and nutritional supplements
fifth
Release suppressed emotions
sixth
Increase positive emotions
seventh
Embrace social support
eighth
Deepening spiritual connections
ninth
Have a strong reason to live
Did you find it?
Of the nine factors
In addition to diet and supplements
The remaining seven are all psychological and behavioral factors
It's not a new drug.
It's not a new surgery.
Not some kind of black tech treatment
It's a psychological shift.
This means that in these cases of spontaneous remission
Some deep psychological and behavioral changes
And the regression of the cancer
There is a high degree of correlation
Attention please.
I'm talking about relevance.
It's not causality.
Turner himself is very careful to call these nine factors hypotheses
Call for more research to verify
This distinction is very important
But the correlation itself is shocking enough
Because it points to a core issue
Can mental states affect the course of cancer?
If you can
Through what mechanism?
Let me put this question on the table in neuroscience.
Over the past 40 years
There's a discipline that's been working on this question.
It's called psychoneuroimmunology.
The name itself says it all
psychology
nerve
immune
How are the three systems interconnected?
Let's first understand a basic fact
There are cells in your immune system called natural killer cells.
Abbreviated as NK cells, NK
Cells are your body's patrols
They're constantly running through your bloodstream.
Specializes in identifying and killing two things
Virus-infected cells
And cancerous cells
Right
You heard right.
Your body produces a small number of cancerous cells every day
But you don't have cancer.
Precisely because NK cells patrol day and night
Find one kill one
This process is called immune surveillance.
Immune surveillance is one of your body's most important defenses
It's nothing new.
Immune surveillance theory was first proposed in the 1950s
And there was a lot of evidence.
People with suppressed immune function
For example, patients taking immunosuppressants after an organ transplant
Significant increase in cancer incidence
This directly demonstrates the critical role of the immune system in suppressing tumors
OK
Remember these two concepts of NK cells and immune surveillance
Because everything that follows is about them
Now here's the problem.
What suppresses the activity of NK cells?
Here's the answer.
chronic stress
Here's how it works.
When you are under chronic stress
Your hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis
HPA axis for short
Will be continuously activated, HPA
What is the result of HPA axis activation?
Sustained release of high levels of cortisol and catecholamines
Also known as stress hormones
If you have seen my previous issue of < Mind and Body Restart >
You should already be familiar with the HPA axis
I was talking about the feedback loop between mood and inflammation.
Negative emotions trigger inflammation
Inflammation damages the nervous system
A damaged nervous system generates more negative emotions
More negative emotions trigger more severe inflammation
Avalanche
nuclear fission
Output Wrap Amplification Large Deviation
System out of control
Today you will see
The cancer story follows the same path as that closed loop.
Numerous studies have confirmed
Persistently high cortisol levels directly inhibit the activity of NK cells
Published in Nature
The review clearly states that
glucocorticoid
That's the hormone cortisol.
It can directly inactivate the killing function of NK cells
And this inactivation does not require a reduction in the number of NK cells
Just turn off its battle mode.
Think about what that means.
Your patrol is still on patrol
But their weapons were taken away
They pass by cancerous cells.
No bullets in the gun
And not only that.
Chronic stress can also interfere with DNA repair mechanisms
Promotes chronic inflammation
Altering the cytokine balance in the tumor microenvironment
Switch the immune environment from tumor-attacking mode to tumor-tolerant mode
This is not hypothetical.
This is a mechanism that has been validated in both animal models and human clinical studies
A study of patients with advanced breast cancer found that
Those with higher average daytime cortisol concentrations
Patients with more severe depressive symptoms
Cellular immunity is significantly suppressed
Another study of ovarian cancer patients found that
Patients with high levels of social support
NK cell activity was higher in the tumor microenvironment and in peripheral blood
And socially isolated patients
Tumors had higher levels of norepinephrine.
Means that the stress signal penetrates directly into the tumor
And I'm going to draw the causal chain.
Chronic psychological stress
Activate the HPA axis and the sympathetic nervous system
Release cortisol and catecholamines
Suppression of NK cell activity and overall cellular immunity
Decreased immune surveillance
Cancer cells gain escape space
This link is supported by solid scientific evidence.
This is not speculation
OK
Now let me reverse the logic.
If chronic stress suppresses the immune system through this pathway
So...
When a person undergoes a deep psychological transformation
Free yourself from chronic stress
Can this path run in the opposite direction?
This is the most exciting frontier in psychoneuroimmunology.
And one study in particular is worth mentioning.
This is a study of people with early-stage breast cancer.
Published in Brain, Behavior and Immunity
Researchers have just had surgery
Breast cancer patients who had not yet received chemotherapy were divided into two groups
One group participated in eight weeks of mindfulness stress reduction training
The other group did not
Then the immune markers of the two groups were tracked at four time points
What's the result?
At the outset of the study
All breast cancer patients exhibited
Decreased NK cell activity and elevated pro-inflammatory cytokines
This fits perfectly with the mechanism we just talked about.
A cancer diagnosis is a highly stressful event in itself
The HPA axis is activated
Immune function is suppressed
But over time
The two groups of people went in completely different directions
The group that participated in mindfulness training
NK cell activity is restored
The pro-inflammatory factors went down.
Cortisol levels are down.
The group that did not participate in the training
NK cell activity continues to decline
Pro-inflammatory factors continue to rise
Eight weeks
The same diagnosis
Same surgery.
The only difference is that one interferes with the mental state
One does not
The immune system bifurcates.
Does that remind you of something?
Exactly.
< Mind and Body Restart > The positive feedback closed loop I talked about in that issue
I said at the time
The mind-body system is a closed loop of positive feedback.
Negative emotions drive inflammation
Inflammation drives more negative emotions
The system is becoming more and more biased
Breaking the cycle requires system-wide intervention rather than a single point of repair
Now you see this same structure at work in cancer immunity.
Chronic stress suppresses immunity
Immune decline leads to worsening physical condition
Physical deterioration creates more stress
More stress further suppresses immunity
Another positive feedback death spiral
And what do people in spontaneous remission do?
They broke the spiral.
Back to Turner's nine factors
Release suppressed emotions
Reduce chronic stress
Increase positive emotions
remodeling cortisol rhythm
Embrace social support
Research clearly confirms that social support boosts NK cell activity
Have a strong reason to live
Psychologically, it's called a sense of meaning.
It is positively correlated with immune function
Take control of your own health decisions
Come out of helplessness
And helplessness is one of the strongest immunosuppressive psychological states known.
Did you see it?
These nine factors are not a bunch of fragmented chicken soup for the soul
When you look at them in the framework of psychoneuroimmunology
They all point to the same thing.
Through multiple psychological and behavioral channels
Also reduce chronic stress responses
Reverse that positive feedback death spiral
Bring the immune system back online
Now let me take the perspective one more level.
Using one of the most important frameworks of our channel
predictive coding
Let's look at this question.
Remember the core mechanics I talked about in the Predictive Coding issue?
Your brain is not a passive receiver
It's an active predictor.
It becomes a prediction about the world.
We then calibrate it with sensory data.
Prior beliefs plus precision weights
Determines what kind of reality you experience
And we're now taking this framework and applying it to cancer patients.
A person is diagnosed with advanced cancer
The doctor told him
Well, statistically speaking.
You have about six months left.
What does this mean in the context of predictive coding?
It implants a very strong prior belief in the brain
I'm going to die.
And this prior belief has extremely high precision weights
Because it comes from a medical authority
From the video report
From a pathological section
From all the sources you trust
What is the brain's response to this high-precision prior belief?
Full Activation Threat Mode, HPA
Axis continuous activation
Cortisol spike
The sympathetic nervous system enters a fight-or-flight state
But this is not a fight-or-flight enemy.
You have nowhere to run
And that stress response becomes chronic.
Become sustainable
It's always on.
Then the immune suppression kicks in.
Positive feedback death spiral initiated
But what about people in spontaneous remission?
They at some point
Experienced a major renewal of prior beliefs
Some people just get desperate and open up.
In Turner's words
They found a strong reason to live.
Some people are released after years of suppressed emotions
I suddenly feel like my whole life has been reignited
Some people make changes to their diet and lifestyle
For the first time, I felt in control of my own destiny
Some people are exposed to a certain spiritual practice
Experienced a deep sense of calm and acceptance
No matter what the specific trigger is
From a predictive coding perspective
They all do the same thing.
Reduced the precision weight of the prior belief that I'm dying
They don't necessarily deny the diagnosis
But they no longer monopolize that cognitive bandwidth.
Their brains start picking up other signals.
I am actively working on something
I have something worth living for
I am no longer a passive victim
These new signals recalibrate the brain's predictive models
Threat mode is no longer the only mode of operation, HPA
The shaft cools down.
Cortisol returns to normal rhythm, NK
The weapon of the cell has been returned
Immune surveillance back online
The positive feedback spiral is reversed.
I need to draw a very clear red line here
The mechanism I just described, the chain.
From chronic stress to immune suppression to tumor progression
This part is supported by a wealth of rigorous scientific evidence
But
From psychological transformation to reversal of immune suppression to spontaneous cancer remission
And there's a huge jump in the middle.
Current science can only say
Psychological interventions can indeed improve immune markers in cancer patients
But can it directly lead to tumor regression?
How much can it cause the tumor to regress?
These are questions that science has yet to answer.
The true mechanism of spontaneous remission is almost certainly multifactorial
Changes in the immune system may be just one part of it
genetic factor
The characteristics of the tumor itself
Accidental changes in the microenvironment
May participate
So what I give you today is not just a good attitude, cancer.
The irresponsible conclusion that the disease will go away on its own
What I'm giving you is an inferential framework that stands up to scientific scrutiny.
Chronic psychological stress does pass through traceability
Neuroendocrine pathways suppress the immune system
The immune system is one of the key defenses against cancer
Therefore
Reduce chronic stress
Improve mental state
And there are scientifically sound mechanisms for doing that.
Support its positive impact on cancer progression
This is not chicken soup for the soul.
This is psychoneuroimmunology.
So let me tell you about a question that I've been thinking about for a long time.
Why do most cancer patients know that stress is bad?
You can't really reduce your stress level.
You think carefully
The question itself holds the answer
You've been diagnosed with terminal cancer.
Someone told you
relax
Don't stress.
Keep a good attitude
Does your body react when it hears that?
Almost none.
Because within the framework of predictive coding
Especially committed materialists
Believing I'm dying is too precise a priori.
It is reported by a confirmed diagnosis
Medical authority
Physical pain
Fear in the eyes of family
All of these high-precision signals are collectively anchored
Don't think too much, you can't shake it at all
That's the real gap between knowing and doing.
It's not that the willpower is not enough
Is the prior weight asymmetry
A light word of advice
Can't fight a belief anchored by the collusion of the whole of reality
It's like I said in the Overview Effect.
You watch pictures of the earth a hundred times on TV
See the earth with your own eyes from space
It's a completely different level of input to the brain.
The former has negligible precision weights
The latter is high enough to reconstruct your entire cognition
Again.
What a cancer patient needs is not to be told not to stress.
It takes an experience powerful enough to shake it.
The a priori belief that I was a helpless victim about to die
What can this experience be?
It can be deep mindfulness meditation.
It's been shown to lower cortisol.
Restore NK cell activity
It can be the release of long-suppressed emotions
When you finally allow yourself to cry
Shout it out.
When expressed
The underlying chronic stress response to that emotion is also being released.
It can be finding a strong reason to live.
When your brain switches from waiting to die mode to living for something mode
The parameters of the entire neuroendocrine system change
It can be a supportive community.
Social support is not chicken soup for the soul
It can be measured.
Biological variables that directly affect NK cell activity
Turner's Nine Factors
To recur in cases of spontaneous remission
Perhaps precisely because they are one of the few
An experience capable of generating high-precision weights
To pry the transcendental belief that I was dying
Pull someone out of a positive feedback death spiral
Let me say that again.
I'm not suggesting that psychological shifts are the only cause of spontaneous remission.
And I'm not saying that you can cure cancer by doing these nine things.
Cancer is an incredibly complex disease.
Any oversimplified statement is irresponsible
But here's the thing.
Completely ignoring the role of psychological factors in the progression of cancer
Also unscientific
Psycho-neuroimmunological studies over the past 40 years
Enough evidence has been accumulated to suggest that
Mental state is not an irrelevant soft variable
It's down the HPA axis.
Sympathetic nervous system
inflammatory cytokines, NK
Cell activity, etc. can be tracked
Measurable path
It's actually affecting your immune system.
optimal strategy
Forever mainstream medical treatment plus comprehensive mind-body intervention
It's not an option.
OK
So much for that.
Let me distill what I'm about to say today.
The core message of this issue is actually only one sentence
Between your mental state and your immune system
There is no wall.
I'll say it again.
That wall doesn't exist.
They are highly correlated.
For a long time
Mainstream medicine treats the body and the mind as two relatively independent systems
You have cancer?
Go to oncology
You have emotional problems
Go to Psychology
There is basically no communication between the two departments
But what psychoneuroimmunology tells us is that
These two systems are not neighbors who live on different floors
They live in the same house
Sharing the same pipeline
Cortisol is the water that flows in pipes.
Your psychological stress turns on the faucet
High cortisol initializes your immune cells, NK
Cells are flooded
Immune surveillance failure
Cancer cells have an opportunity
reverse
When you find a way to turn off that faucet
Cortisol returns to normal levels, NK
The cell takes up arms again.
Immune surveillance back online
It's not that the mind can heal.
This is saying
Your mental state is channeled through very specific biochemical pathways
Directly involved in the operation of your body's defense system
Ignore this
You're missing a powerful tool.
Maybe even the most powerful nuclear weapon
Because this process of immunity repairing itself
Compared to the doctor's treatment
There are no side effects at all.
It can even fix other basic diseases by the way
But it also left a question that I'm still wondering
If psychological states do influence the course of cancer through the immune system
So where is the ceiling of this influence?
Spontaneous remission does exist
3,500 medical literature cases are not made up
But it's incredibly rare.
The vast majority of cancer patients, no matter how good they are
Psychological transformation alone cannot cure cancer.
So what is spontaneous remission?
It is the immune system under very specific conditions
A small probability quantum tunneling event
It's a perfect storm where multiple factors happen to align at the same time
Or is our understanding of the immune system still far from complete?
The future may find its potential far beyond our imagination
This question
Science cannot answer for the time being
But ION and Kelly Turner, what they did
At least it points us in a direction worth taking seriously
Don't just focus on the tumor itself
Also look at the person carrying the tumor
His mental state
His beliefs and his way of coping
His immune system
His social support
Because these things are not icing on the cake.
They may be a grossly underestimated part of the treatment package
Maybe one day we will find out
The most powerful medicine
It's always in you.
We just don't know exactly how to pull it out yet.
For the content of this issue
What do you think?
Have you or someone close to you ever experienced a psychological condition?
Great changes in state bring about an experience of improved physical health
What topic would you most like me to talk about in the next issue?
Welcome to leave a message in the comment area.
I am Wang Lijie
See you next time.