One-third of the world's lung cancer is in China. This trick can effectively detect it early

Expert reviewer of this article: Yan Shi, deputy chief physician of Peking University Cancer Hospital

Lung cancer is the most common cancer in China and also the tumor with the highest mortality rate. The five-year survival rate of lung cancer patients in China is less than 20%. Lung cancer is a long process from initiation to development to death, which may last for several years. Lung cancer will accelerate in the later stages of the disease, but will develop slowly in the early stages.

Therefore, early screening of people at high risk of lung cancer is very important, and striving for "early detection and early treatment" is an effective measure to reduce the incidence and mortality of lung cancer.

Studies have shown that lung cancer is more likely to target the following groups of people: those who have smoked for more than 20 years or started smoking before 20 years old, or those who smoke more than 20 cigarettes a day; those who are often exposed to oil smoke or coal smoke; those who live in areas with severe air pollution for a long time, etc.

It can be seen that the first step to prevent lung cancer is to quit smoking, and the second step is to avoid exposure to polluted environments, such as turning on the range hood in time when cooking, reducing the number of windows opened on foggy days, and taking personal protective measures.

Of course, for people at high risk of lung cancer, the most important thing is to go to the hospital in time and do early screening.

Some people say that X-rays are included in the company's physical examination, so they should be able to screen for lung cancer, right? Do we still need to go to the hospital for screening?

The answer is of course!

In fact, the screening effect of X-rays for lung cancer is average. To put it bluntly, when X-rays can diagnose lung cancer, many cases are already in the middle or late stages.

Although there are many ways to treat lung cancer, the existing anti-tumor drugs can only alleviate the condition. If early lung cancer can be detected, the 5-year survival rate after surgery can reach 60%-70%.

For lung cancer, the truly effective early screening method is CT examination.

When hearing about CT scans, some people may worry about the ionizing radiation and the damage it may cause to the body. However, lung cancer screening uses low-dose CT scans, and proper use has little impact on the patient's health, which is far from being as scary as the legend says.

Of course, pregnant women and children who choose CT need to follow the doctor's advice.

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