More people are suffering from lethal lung cancer than those in
other Chinese cities, according to the Shanghai Disease Prevention
and Control Center.
Quoting Ministry of Health statistics, the center revealed that 56
out of 100,000 males in Shanghai and 18.2 out of 100,000 local
females suffered from lung cancer.
The percentage was "slightly lower than the average level in
developed countries, but fairly high compared to cities in
developed countries," Li Xinjian, director of the center's cancer
division, told China Daily.
Other cities suffering a high incidence of the fatal disease
include Beijing, Guangzhou, capital of South China's Guangdong
Province and Hefei, capital of East China's Anhui Province,
according to Li.
Local medical experts said that air pollution and smoking were
major causes of the disease.
For years, lung cancer has been the leading cause of cancer-related
deaths in adults in many countries.
Out of every 100 patients suffering from lung cancer, about 30 will
seek medical treatment. Among them, 20 to 25 are operable and only
10 manage to live more than five years after an operation,
according to center staff.
Liao Meilin, a medical expert at Shanghai Chest Hospital, noted
that, in recent years, cancer patients in Shanghai are getting
younger.
Quite a few lung cancer patients were only in their 20s or 30s,
said Liao.
More than 80 percent of these young patients did not get the
disease detected early enough, missing their best chance of a cure,
said Liao.
Despite various treatment alternatives, the chances of survival for
lung cancer patients have not improved significantly during the
past decade, according to Liao.
Li
added that, although it will take a long time to tackle the disease
in Shanghai, the city has taken a number of steps to improve its
environment in recent years.
Li
also urged local people to start taking greater care of their
health by stopping smoking.
(China Daily March 15, 2003)