Improve cancer prevention and treatment awareness and raise awareness of early screening and diagnosis

In order to further respond to the call of the "Cancer Prevention and Control Action of the Healthy China Action (2019-2030)", the "2020 China Lung Cancer Prevention and Control Summit Forum" hosted by the Beijing Bethune Public Welfare Foundation and co-organized by People's Daily Online and People's Health was successfully held in Beijing on September 11.

In July last year, the State Council issued the "Opinions of the State Council on Implementing the Healthy China Action Plan", proposing to implement cancer prevention and treatment actions. It advocates active cancer prevention, promotes early screening, early diagnosis, and early treatment, reduces cancer morbidity and mortality, and improves the quality of life of patients. By 2022 and 2030, the overall five-year cancer survival rate will be no less than 43.3% and 46.6% respectively.

Combining prevention and treatment to prevent and control lung cancer

The "2019 National Cancer Report" released by the National Cancer Center shows that malignant tumors have become one of the major public health problems that seriously threaten the health of the Chinese population. According to the latest statistics, deaths from malignant tumors account for 23.91% of all causes of death among residents, and the incidence and mortality of malignant tumors have continued to rise in the past decade. The medical expenses caused by malignant tumors exceed 220 billion yuan each year, and the prevention and control situation is severe.

"Cancer prevention and treatment focuses on prevention, because prevention is linked to the continuous progress of society and the great rejuvenation of the nation." Gao Shugeng, deputy director of the Cancer Hospital of the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, emphasized that currently among malignant tumors in my country, lung cancer ranks first in incidence and mortality.

Li Ni, deputy director of the Office of Early Diagnosis and Treatment of Cancer at the National Cancer Center, believes that as a country with a large population, lung cancer prevention and control in China is not just a matter for China alone, but involves global lung cancer prevention and control. Moreover, lung cancer prevention and control is no longer just a disease issue, but also a public health issue.

In view of the current situation of lung cancer, prevention and treatment have become the most powerful way to solve this problem. For cancer patients, the biggest goal of cancer treatment is to prolong life and improve the quality of life. Gao Shugeng said that as a major malignant tumor, the low survival rate of lung cancer patients is a common consensus in society, but with the gradual advancement of early diagnosis and early treatment, the 5-year survival rate of patients has improved compared with the past.

"Early diagnosis and early treatment not only improves the treatment effect, but also reduces the disease burden and saves medical expenses." Gao Shugeng said that in the clinical diagnosis and treatment process, it was found that most lung cancer patients were already in the middle and late stages when they were diagnosed. Our long-term goal is to increase the five-year survival rate of lung cancer patients by 5% to 10% in the short term.

Tertiary prevention improves the five-year survival rate of lung cancer patients

Wu Jing, director of the Chronic Disease Center of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said, "The improvement of cancer prevention, screening, early diagnosis and treatment, and standardized diagnosis and treatment will help curb the rise in cancer incidence and mortality." When talking about the key to the prevention and control of chronic diseases such as cancer, Director Wu Jing pointed out that "everyone is the first person responsible for their own health. Taking measures as soon as possible, strengthening prevention, practicing a healthy lifestyle, regular cancer prevention physical examinations, paying close attention to cancer danger signs, and receiving standardized treatment are the keys to lung cancer prevention and control. In the post-epidemic era, infectious disease prevention and control and chronic disease prevention and control cannot be separated. During the epidemic, we must strengthen attention and continuous care for patients with chronic diseases, including cancer patients."

Li Ni, deputy director of the Office of Early Cancer Diagnosis and Treatment at the National Cancer Center, said that tumor is a very hidden and cunning disease. There are no obvious symptoms when it first occurs, and many are discovered during physical examinations.

Lung cancer is a complex disease that is difficult to diagnose and treat. Traditional single diagnostic and treatment methods are far from enough. Huang Bin, Vice President of AstraZeneca China and Head of Corporate Affairs and Market Access, said: "AstraZeneca is also actively exploring the chronic disease management of lung cancer throughout the entire disease course. Relying on provincial and municipal societies, associations, medical institutions and partners, we jointly promote the construction of integrated lung cancer diagnosis and treatment centers (iLCCs), and actively support societies, associations and medical institutions to carry out public welfare action projects for lung cancer screening and prevention, promote the improvement of the five-year survival rate of lung cancer, and help achieve 'Healthy China 2030'."

In Li Ni's opinion, it is equally important to raise public awareness of cancer prevention and treatment, accept the three-level prevention to cut off the cause of the disease, and kill cancer in the "cradle". "Three-level prevention mainly refers to early screening, early diagnosis, and early treatment. Through early screening, high-risk groups are screened out and monitored in time, and the next step of early diagnosis and early treatment is carried out in time." Li Ni introduced that three-level prevention is advocated in cancer prevention and control, among which standardized diagnosis and treatment is an important part of three-level prevention that cannot be ignored.

"Standardized diagnosis and treatment are the main means to improve the survival rate of patients with middle and late-stage cancer. Only by carrying out these three tasks simultaneously can we effectively reduce the mortality rate of lung cancer," said Li Ni.

However, in the practice of tertiary prevention, everything did not go as perfectly as described in theory. Li Ni said that when the National Cancer Center carried out free screening and high-risk population monitoring according to the concept of tertiary cancer prevention, it was found that residents in many areas were less enthusiastic about participating, unable to recognize the importance of tertiary prevention, and lacked relevant knowledge.

How to improve the cancer prevention and control awareness of ordinary residents? Li Ni introduced that raising awareness of early screening, early diagnosis and early treatment of cancer requires support from both supply and demand sides. On the supply side, after the state issues relevant documents, the community should have ways to make residents willing to accept testing, such as providing buses, milk, eggs and other related benefits. On the demand side, patients should be made aware of the importance of early screening, early diagnosis and early treatment through expert lectures and popular science.

In order to enhance the participation of the whole society in the third-level prevention, it seems to be too weak to rely on residents and communities alone. Li Ni believes that enhancing the awareness of ordinary people about cancer prevention and control is a systematic project.

"In this project, everyone from the entire country to every individual must pay attention and take action. Medical professional institutions, enterprises, etc. must intervene in a timely manner to form a full-scale participation of the country, medical institutions, social organizations, enterprises, and individuals to jointly serve the country's multi-dimensional needs in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of lung cancer." Li Ni said.