Shanghai has the highest incidence of breast cancer in China. More than 60 in every 100,000 women in the city contract the disease. About 6.4 percent of those who do are under 35 years old. “The incidence of breast cancer is rising in China due to the changing lifestyle, the increasing pace of life and rising pressure,” said Dr Shao Zhimin from the Shanghai Tumor Hospital.
“Though the disease is most prevalent in Chinese women between the ages of 40 and 45, more young women have started to develop the disease. It may relate to family history and personal genetic problems, or overconsumption and the improper use of medical treatments, many of which contain a high dose of female hormones”, sadi Shao.
Doctors said they also suspect that early sexual development may have a relationship with developing breast cancer in adulthood.
In about 70 percent of cases, the disease is discovered through self-checkup, but doctors stressed the importance of regular professional health checks.
“We encourage women aged 35 or older to visit a hospital every year for a professional checkup, since many early stages of breast cancer can’t be detected with self-examination,” Shao said.
Early detection is the key to successful treatment and survival. About 90 percent of breast cancer cases can be cured if they are detected early enough and treated properly, while less than 20 percent of patients can survive for five years if the disease is discovered in its middle or terminal stages.
About 1.4 million women contract the disease around the world every year and around 400,000 die. Those most at risk include women with a family history of the disease, those with an unhealthy lifestyle, the obese, long-term users of hormones or hormone-replacement therapy, those without children, mothers who did not breast feed and women who have had other breast diseases.
“We highly recommend women protect themselves by doing no less than four hours a week of physical exercise, avoiding cigarettes and alcohol, conducting a monthly self-checkup and having an ultrasonic screening once a year once they’ve reached the age of 35,” Shao said.
October is breast cancer awareness month. In Shanghai, a series of medical forums, patient consultations and public education programs have been launched.
One reply on “Living in China: Shanghai breast cancer rates highest in China”
Dear Sir/madame,
We are two students of the University of Utrecht, the Netherlands. Currently we are working on our Master-thesis, which we will accomplish for Philips Healthcare.
Philips has developed a monitoring system to improve the quality of life of patients suffering from cancer, who are treated with chemotherapy. With this system patients can measure their own blood levels. In this case they know exactly when their blood levels are optimal for a new chemotherapy treatment, which will improve the quality of the treatment. The quality of live of the patient will also be improved by less hospital visits.
This monitoring project is already under evaluation for the US and UK. Philips is now considering whether this project could also be of value in China. It is necessary to investigate several important features of the Chinese market which could influence the successful implementation of the home monitoring system.
In our thesis we will do an cost comparison of the patient treatment period form diagnosis until cure, in the traditional way compared to the situation where the monitoring system is used in China. To do this comparison we need to have a good insight in the way cancer patient are treated now in China. We will visit Shanghai during April and May this year to speak to oncologists and patients. To be able to make a good comparison with the US we will focus on breast cancer patients.
It would be very helpful if we could do an short interview with an oncologist about the way breast cancer patients are treated now. Maybe you have contact information for us, it would be very helpfull!
Thank you very much in advance!
xiè xiè nín,
With kind regards,
Justin den Hartog
denhartog1@gmail.com