CANCER and its treatment in China is influenced by air pollution, poverty and a fledgling medical insurance system.
The same type of cancer shows different characteristics in the East and the West, the Health News reported yesterday, the World Cancer Day. Treatments also vary due to social and economic factors.
The newspaper, affiliated with the Health Ministry, cited breast cancer, lung cancer, and colorectal cancer as examples.
While the incidence of breast cancer is falling in Western countries, it is on the rise in China as a result of changes in lifestyle, living conditions and diets and the Westernization of cities, Jiang Zefei, a breast cancer expert with the 307 Hospital of the People's Liberation Army, told the newspaper.
The peak age for breast cancer in China is 10 years earlier than that for white women, Jiang added.
According to a national report on tumors in 2012, the incidence of breast cancer surged among women above 25, peaking at 50.
The Health News also said the average age of breast cancer patients seeking treatment was 48.7, 10 years ahead of that in the West.
In terms of treatment, women in developed countries had better access to breast cancer tests thanks to national programs, a developed medical insurance system and family doctors, Jiang said, while Chinese women mainly rely on simple self-examination.
Jiang said more Chinese women tended to have mastectomies even if removing the breasts was not essential, while 80 to 90 percent of American patients choose to save theirs.
Apart from cultural differences, this had something to do with limited medical insurance for Chinese patients, Jiang said, with many poorly insured patients having their breasts removed because they could not afford long-term radiotherapy.
Chinese patients tend to exhibit more abnormal cell growth in the lungs compared to Europeans and Americans, Wang Jun, chest surgery expert with the Peking University People's Hospital, said.
He attributed such characteristics to air pollution, living conditions and diet, among other factors.
The abnormal cell growth leads to higher risks during surgery, Wang said.
In China, the incidence of colorectal cancer is also 10 years earlier than that in Western countries. While the West reports more colon cancer than rectal, it is the opposite in China, Gu Jin, a colorectal surgery expert with Beijing Cancer Hospital, told the newspaper.
Gu said there was no convincing explanation yet due to a lack of large-scale surveys.
However, he said poor medical insurance contributed to Chinese doctors searching for flexible ways of treating rectal cancer.
The recommended therapy for rectal cancer is 25-day radiochemotherapy prior to surgery with a break of six to eight days between.
However, many patients find the therapy too costly, Gu said, and 10 days of radiochemotherapy followed by a two-week break before surgery had proved to work well.
The same type of cancer shows different characteristics in the East and the West, the Health News reported yesterday, the World Cancer Day. Treatments also vary due to social and economic factors.
The newspaper, affiliated with the Health Ministry, cited breast cancer, lung cancer, and colorectal cancer as examples.
While the incidence of breast cancer is falling in Western countries, it is on the rise in China as a result of changes in lifestyle, living conditions and diets and the Westernization of cities, Jiang Zefei, a breast cancer expert with the 307 Hospital of the People's Liberation Army, told the newspaper.
The peak age for breast cancer in China is 10 years earlier than that for white women, Jiang added.
According to a national report on tumors in 2012, the incidence of breast cancer surged among women above 25, peaking at 50.
The Health News also said the average age of breast cancer patients seeking treatment was 48.7, 10 years ahead of that in the West.
In terms of treatment, women in developed countries had better access to breast cancer tests thanks to national programs, a developed medical insurance system and family doctors, Jiang said, while Chinese women mainly rely on simple self-examination.
Jiang said more Chinese women tended to have mastectomies even if removing the breasts was not essential, while 80 to 90 percent of American patients choose to save theirs.
Apart from cultural differences, this had something to do with limited medical insurance for Chinese patients, Jiang said, with many poorly insured patients having their breasts removed because they could not afford long-term radiotherapy.
Chinese patients tend to exhibit more abnormal cell growth in the lungs compared to Europeans and Americans, Wang Jun, chest surgery expert with the Peking University People's Hospital, said.
He attributed such characteristics to air pollution, living conditions and diet, among other factors.
The abnormal cell growth leads to higher risks during surgery, Wang said.
In China, the incidence of colorectal cancer is also 10 years earlier than that in Western countries. While the West reports more colon cancer than rectal, it is the opposite in China, Gu Jin, a colorectal surgery expert with Beijing Cancer Hospital, told the newspaper.
Gu said there was no convincing explanation yet due to a lack of large-scale surveys.
However, he said poor medical insurance contributed to Chinese doctors searching for flexible ways of treating rectal cancer.
The recommended therapy for rectal cancer is 25-day radiochemotherapy prior to surgery with a break of six to eight days between.
However, many patients find the therapy too costly, Gu said, and 10 days of radiochemotherapy followed by a two-week break before surgery had proved to work well.
