China's 5-year survival and current cancer data were released for the first time, and three types of people unfortunately lay down their guns.

On October 9, 2015, Chen Wanqing, director of the National Cancer Center, led a team to publish an academic article on the statistics of the number of cancer patients among Chinese residents online in the internationally renowned cancer professional journal Cancer Newsletter (CancerLetters), entitled "National estimates of cancer prevalence in China, 2011", which released the current cancer patients data of Chinese residents for the first time. This paper analyzes the new cancer cases and the number of cancer survivors in China in the first five years of 2011, and aims to analyze the 5-year survival data of 25 major cancers in China.

The data in this paper come from 177 tumor registration points in China. Patients diagnosed with cancer from 2003 to 2005 are selected as the research objects. Follow-up observation is carried out on them until December 31, 2010. When counting the number of cancer survivors and the number of new patients in 5 years (2006-2010), the gender, age, place of residence and type of cancer are recorded, and the horizontal and vertical comparison is carried out as parameters to systematically evaluate the current situation of cancer epidemic in China.

In 2011, the number of cancer patients reached 7.49 million, with half a hundred cancer patients per 10,000 people.

The research team used incidence data and survival data to construct a mathematical model to calculate the cancer rate. Cancer rate: the proportion of the sum of old and new cancer cases in the total population at a certain time. The 5-year cancer rate is the proportion of the number of cancer cases diagnosed within 5 years that are still alive in the current total population.

The results show that the number of cancer cases diagnosed within 5 years in China is about 7.49 million, including 3.68 million male patients and 3.81 million female patients. The cancer rate was 556/100000. Among 7.49 million cancer patients, breast cancer, colorectal cancer, lung cancer, gastric cancer, and esophageal cancer accounted for the top five, accounting for 56.1 of the total number.

Compared with the incidence rate, the 5-year cancer rate can better reflect the disease burden as a whole, so as to provide a scientific basis for medical and health decision-making. From this cancer epidemic data, we can clearly see the major problems facing health care and the focus of future work.

The first category: middle-aged and elderly people, cancer patients are mostly concentrated in people over 40 years old

The researchers counted the number of survivors of 25 major cancers separately, and selected three age groups: 0-39 years old, 40-64 years old, and 65 years old for horizontal comparison. What is the age distribution of 7.49 million cancer patients:

Survival cancer patients are mostly concentrated in the elderly population, mainly in the 40-64 year old population. This result is closely related to the aging society in our country. Today, nearly 10 per cent of our people are 65 years of age and older. The burden of the ageing population significantly increases the prevalence of high-risk diseases (diabetes, cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, neurological diseases, cancer) in the elderly. According to Deloitte Consulting's 2020 Health Care Forecast Report, China will officially enter the stage of serious aging in 2020.

Compared with developed countries, China has been "getting old before getting rich" since 2003, with a per capita GDP of 1000 US dollars. Statistics show that health care expenditure accounted for 23% of total expenditure in 2014, and health care expenditure is expected to rise to 32% of total expenditure by 2020. With the continuous improvement of medical standards and the popularization of universal medical insurance, cancer patients have a relatively long survival period. The treatment and care of cancer survivors are the focus of medical and health care.

The second category: female population, breast cancer-the "number one killer" threatening women's health"

Among the cancer patients diagnosed with cancer and still alive in my country within 5 years, female breast cancer patients are the most, reaching 1.02 million. The National Cancer Center has produced data: breast cancer accounts for 16.81 percent of all nausea tumors in women, and the incidence is soaring at a rate of 3-4% per year. This growth rate is twice the global average and ranks first in the world.

Among 1.02 million female patients, 11.1 per cent were under 40 years of age, 74.4 per cent were between 40 and 64 years of age, and 14.5 per cent were over 65 years of age. The younger age of cancer also indicates the importance of breast cancer screening. The development of precision medicine provides the possibility for the prevention of breast cancer. Genetic testing, family assessment, physical examination and screening, and health guidance are the four-part "precision prevention" proposed by the Breast Cancer Prevention Alliance this year to care for women's health.

The third category: rural residents, the 5-year survival rate of cancer patients in rural areas is lower than that in urban areas.

The data in the report show that within 5 years, the cancer rate in urban areas was 666/100000, while the cancer rate in rural areas was 440/100000. Please note that the 5-year cancer rate in the article refers to the proportion of the number of cases diagnosed with cancer in the current population within 5 years. This shows that the survival rate of cancer in urban areas is significantly higher than that in rural areas.

The reason is largely related to the level of health care. Regardless of the hospital infrastructure, medical standards, social health awareness, and the establishment of the medical insurance system, the gap between urban and rural areas does exist and cannot be ignored.

Whether physical or psychological, cancer survivors need good medical care. This involves good investment and optimal allocation of medical resources, especially for vulnerable groups such as women, middle-aged and elderly people, and remote rural areas.

Note: Some of the data and pictures in this article are from Ikang Guobin.