Latest News:  

English>>China Society

6 a minute in China told they have cancer

By Cai Wenjun   (Shanghai Daily)

09:02, June 13, 2013

SIX people are diagnosed with cancer every minute in China and young people and the elderly are most at risk, according to medical experts cited in a report in the bi-monthly China Comment journal.

There are about 3.12 million new cases of cancer every year in China, and 2 million deaths, the report said.

The age distribution of cancer patients and the rapid rise of lung, breast and colorectal cancers were of concern to doctors but 60 percent of cases could be avoided by following a healthy lifestyle, experts said.

Cancers closely related to people's lifestyles were rising quickly in China.

Xu Congjian, president of the Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital of Fudan University, said women suffering from cancer were younger than before. Among all gynecological cancer patients, 21 percent were young women who hadn't yet had children.

Cervical cancer was beginning to affect women in their 30s and 40s, 10 years earlier than before, because of their earlier sex life, multiple partners and smoking, he said.

The most prevalent cancers in China are those of lung, stomach, rectum, liver and esophagus while lung cancer had the highest mortality, the report said.

Mortality due to lung cancer had risen by 465 percent in the past 30 years and had become the top cause of death from cancer in China, it said.

Chen Wanqing, vice director of the National Cancer Prevention and Control Research Office, said 85 to 90 percent of lung cancers were related to smoking, while 20 percent of deaths due to cancer in China were related to diet, nutrition and lack of exercise.

Environmental pollution will also cause more deaths due to cancer, the report said, but so far no wide ranging studies have been carried out.

Experts said that obesity and overweight could double the number of deaths from cancer while deaths from cancer due to the abuse of alcohol could also rise over the next 15 years.

Chen said China's different age distribution of cancer patients was due to family planning policy and the rising number of the elderly people.

"Under the aging society, China has more young cancer patients and more elderly cancer patients at the same time," he said. "In 2020, there will be 4 million new cases of cancer in China every year."

We Recommend:

Where's the bottom line of eye catching shows?

2,000 cheongsam fans put on a show in Shanghai

Dramatic dream in little theater

China's weekly story (2013.5.24-5.31)

Bodyguard trainees experience 'Hell Week'

47 dead, 34 injured in SE China bus fire

Photos: Mask girl's hard life

70-year-old son's love for 96-year-old mother

Massive fire kills scores at poultry plant in NE China

Email|Print|Comments(Editor:HuangJin、Chen Lidan)

Leave your comment2 comments

  1. Name

WOW at 2013-06-1460.240.57.*
Eat more natural and self-cooked foods rather than eating fast and processed foods full of chemical preservatives and artificial flavors...
helen at 2013-06-13175.136.83.*
China should focus on education, imparting knowledge on nutrition ..... and prevention of cancer via iodine, magnesium chloride, sodium bicarbonate, cesium chloride, vitamin B17 ,,,, and Chinese herbal medicines.And treatment of cancers using chemotherapy, radiation therapy and surgery are not necessarily the prudent way to reduce cancer.Chinese medicine and alternative treatments are still the best.......Alkanise the body, eat more vegetables & fruits, detox the toxins buildup in the body - heavy metals and other pollutants, boost the immune system, leading a less stressful life (in China money-minded pursuits), moderate exercise ...and the list goes on. Chinese media can help to educate the people via CCTV, media .... as well as in schools ... this will go a long way.
  

Selections for you


  1. NBC emergency rescue team

  2. Anti-terror exercise conducted in S. Korea

  3. Finalists in Sydney to compete for Best Jobs

  4. Girl travels 16 hours to save wounded eye

  5. Percussion shows me the world

  6. No quick way
    to a job

  7. Nanhaizi Park: An ecological garden

  8. Most beautiful Chinese celebs

  9. HK's new terminal receives luxury liner

  10. Hilton to open 120 new hotels in China

Most Popular

Opinions

  1. Whistleblower welcome in China
  2. Chinese brands in global marketplace set to grow
  3. Surveillance programs reveal U.S. hypocrisy
  4. People's Daily urges safety after deadly accidents
  5. Equities slump amid slow-growth estimates
  6. World owes Snowden debt of gratitude
  7. Male teachers needed at Chinese kindergartens
  8. Hard times for air pollution
  9. Road ahead for China's food safety
  10. Showdown of China's Big Three cities

What’s happening in China

Developer razes historic Guangzhou structures

  1. 1 dead in NE China construction site accident
  2. Beijing set to rein dangerous dogs
  3. Quest for 2nd child exposes couple’s private life
  4. 'Alien' buster turns out to be a faker
  5. Japanese citizens detained for fraud, murder