A survey on public awareness on breast cancer has thrown up
disturbing figures highlighting a lack of awareness of the
disease.
Only 48 percent of Chinese women have a very basic understanding of
the risk factors for breast cancer and 18.1 percent seldom or never
go to hospital for breast scans, according to the survey, released
in Shanghai recently.
Along with the survey, the Chinese Anti-Cancer Association and
AstraZeneca Pharmaceutical Co issued a breast-cancer guidance book
to promote national knowledge of prevention and control. The survey
covered 752 ordinary women and breast-cancer patients in Beijing,
Shanghai, Guangzhou, Chengdu and Nanjing in February and March.
It found that most people have little understanding of breast
cancer and less than 30 percent perform regular self-examinations,
an important method for women to detect growths early. About 58
percent of the 130 surveyed cancer patients who received surgery a
year ago found the cancer through self-examination, doctors
said.
There are 150,000 women detected with breast cancer in China
every year and 60 percent of new patients are pre-menopausal. The
peak age group for the cancer is 45 to 50 for Chinese women, five
to 10 years younger than Western counterparts.
Women in big cities like Beijing and Shanghai have double the
incidence of breast cancer than the national level.
"Breast cancer is treatable but the key to successful treatment
is early detection and diagnosis," said Dr Shao Zhimin, director of
Fudan University's breast cancer research institute. "Risk factors
include family history, age, fatty diet, obesity, never giving
birth, never breast feeding, having other chronic breast diseases
and living an irregular lifestyle."
(Shanghai Daily July 2, 2007)
