National Health Commission: High-Risk Groups Should Undergo Early Cancer Screening
On March 7, Lei Haichao, director of the National Health Commission, issued an appeal at a press conference during the Two Sessions. He recommended that Chinese people aged 50 and over, long-term smokers, patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and those with a family history of lung cancer undergo an annual low-dose helical CT scan.
He also recommended that people at high risk and those with a family history of colorectal cancer undergo colonoscopy or related blood tests every three to five years. Heavy drinkers aged 45 and over, as well as those with gastric ulcers or a family history of gastric cancer, should undergo gastroscopy every three to five years.
For a long time, Chinese residents have generally valued treatment of disease while neglecting prevention and early screening. This is related to the strength of medical popularization, residents' scientific literacy, health concepts, and national income.
In fact, cancer is a preventable and controllable disease; for cancer, the role and significance of prevention and early screening are greater than those of treatment. We can not only prevent cancer by changing our lifestyle and giving up bad habits, but also detect cancer as early as possible through screening.
The surgical cure rate for most early cancers can reach over 90%. Early cancer has a small surgical scope, few side effects, low cost and a good prognosis; the great majority of early-cancer patients achieve clinical cure after surgery. But treating middle- and late-stage cancer is a worldwide medical challenge; to date, the cure rate for advanced cancer is still very low, and treatment is costly with relatively severe side effects.
Besides the categories of patients mentioned by Director Lei Haichao, some other people are also at high risk for cancer, such as hepatitis B virus carriers, patients with solitary gallbladder polyps or gallstones larger than 1 cm, HPV carriers, EBV carriers, and Helicobacter pylori-infected patients, and patients with reflux esophagitis. These conditions are typical precancerous lesions with a certain rate of malignant transformation.
In addition, the direct relatives of already-diagnosed cancer patients (such as siblings, children and parents) all belong to high-incidence groups for cancer. Statistics show that the direct relatives of cancer patients have a cancer risk five times that of the general population. Once such people reach the age of 40, it is necessary for them to undergo regular cancer screening.