Source: Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center
Written by: Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center
Translated by: Liao Shuang
Edited by: Wang Dongmei

The Lingnan Lecture series “cherish life - prevention and treatment of cancer”, hosted by Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center (SYSUCC), was held on April 15, 2013. Many famous oncologists, namely, Prof. Qian Chaonan, Assistant to the President of SYSUCC; Prof. Wan Desen, former president of SYSUCC and specialist in colorectal cancer; Prof. Liu Jihong, Director of the Department of Gynecology and specialist in cervical cancer; and Prof. Zhang Li, Deputy Director of the Department of Medical Oncology at SYSUCC, attended the conference. They each gave a lecture in their specialties including nasopharyngeal carcinoma, colorectal cancer, lung cancer, cervical cancer and ovarian cancer, introducing to the audience the general knowledge of cancer prevention and treatment. Patients had the opportunity to interact with SYSUCC experts through face-to-face exchanges, allowing them to raise their questions and concerns about cancer.
"Due to the fact that the cost of the anti-cancer physical exam is not covered by our health insurance, now there is a low rate of cancer early diagnosis in China,” pointed out Prof. Qian Chaonan, and he suggested that the cost of an annual basic anti-cancer physical exam should be covered by our health insurance, while other more expensive anti-cancer tests could be done each 3~5 years.

According to Prof. Wan Desen, unhealthy diet and living habits, genetic factors together with the phenomenon of population aging resulted in an average increase of 4%~5% per year in colorectal cancer incidence rate in large cities in China, while in the United States, the same rate declined by 3%~4% per year. Apparently, more efforts should still be made to the prevention and early diagnosis of colorectal cancer in China.

"The pivot of an efficient cervical cancer prevention is to control the precancerous stage,” said Prof. Liu Jihong, “hopefully our health insurance can cover an annual cervical cancer screen, or once every two years.” As the HPV (human papillomavirus) vaccine is still in the clinical research phase in mainland China, Hong Kong and Macao are both appropriate choices for HPV vaccination in China.

"Lung cancer is now the No.1 killer worldwide among all cancer types. Although the cause of this disease is still not clear, it is confirmed that cigarette smoking is a risk factor for lung cancer,” commented Prof. Zhang Li, Deputy Director of the Department of Medical Oncology at SYSUCC. He, therefore, reminded the young generation not to smoke or believe the “non carcinogenic” signs on the cigarette pack of some special brand. Furthermore, our government and the society should both work hard to control smoking in public and encourage more people to quit smoking.