2023-4 April 15 marks the 21th National Cancer Prevention and Control Awareness Week. Recently, the Chinese Journal of Oncology published the paper "Analysis of the Prevalence of Malignant Tumors in China in 29", which published the epidemic of cancer spectrum in various provinces for the first time, and found that there were obvious differences in the cancer spectrum structure in different places. Why are there "regional differences" in cancer? The reporter specially invited Professor Wang Cailian, director of the Oncology Department of Zhongda Hospital Affiliated to Southeast University, to interpret.
Correspondent Cai Yiqiu Yangtze Evening News/Purple Cow News Reporter Yang Yan
The prevalence of these cancers is territorial
The report analyzes the prevalence of the main cancer spectrum in each province – lung cancer ranks first in all regions except the Tibet Autonomous Region, Gansu Province and Qinghai Province. Nasopharyngeal carcinoma ranks in the top 10 in Guangdong Province, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Hainan Province, Jiangxi Province and Guizhou Province. Thyroid cancer ranked 7th in the country, but rose to 2nd in Tianjin, Zhejiang Province and Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. The number of cases of esophageal cancer in Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai and Guangdong Province is relatively low, ranking about 15th.
It can be seen that the epidemic of various tumors has certain regional characteristics, what is going on? Can moving away from a place where cancer is high be able to keep us healthy?
The answer is clearly no.
Professor Wang Cailian, director of the Department of Oncology of Zhongda Hospital Affiliated to Southeast University, said that the geographical environment is not the most important factor in the threat to our health, and the human factors hidden behind the geographical environment are the culprits that cause regional differences in the incidence of cancer.
Human factors include eating habits, exercise habits, daily living habits, working environment, nature of work, environmental pollutants, etc., which may induce the occurrence of cancer.
There are clear differences in the structure of the cancer spectrum between urban and rural areas
Another phenomenon in the report is worth paying attention to: in relatively developed areas, lung cancer, colorectal cancer, breast cancer, thyroid cancer and prostate cancer are the main incidence, but in relatively socially and economically backward areas, there is still a high incidence of malignant tumors such as gastric cancer, esophageal cancer and liver cancer, accompanied by colorectal cancer and breast cancer.
In this regard, Professor Wang Cailian explained that malignant tumors are diseases caused by various factors such as environment, diet, living habits, genes and so on, so the difference in the environment and living habits of urban and rural residents will also cause differences in tumor incidence.
Due to the high employment pressure in cities, the fast pace of life, and the change of women's conception of fertility, the incidence of endocrine diseases in women is getting higher and higher. Breast cancer and ovarian cancer are hormone-dependent tumors, and the incidence is higher in urban areas than in rural areas.
Similarly, gastric cancer is closely related to Helicobacter pylori infection and dietary habits, and esophageal cancer is related to insufficient intake of fresh vegetables and fruits, and the incidence is higher in rural areas than in cities; Colorectal cancer is associated with excessive meat intake, obesity, and lack of exercise, and its incidence is higher in urban areas than in rural areas.
Liver cancer is mainly caused by hepatitis B and C virus infection, two tumors associated with viral infection that are also more common in rural areas than in urban areas. In addition, the more coastal areas in China, the more humid areas with perennial rain, the higher the incidence of liver cancer, and the reason behind this phenomenon is a toxin called "aflatoxin". It exists in moldy and spoiled grain, inferior edible edible oil and peanut oil, moldy and spoiled nuts, the toxin is extremely toxic, because the liver is an organ that metabolizes toxins, so aflatoxin enters the body, first of all it will cause damage to the liver.
The key to fighting cancer is early screening, early diagnosis and early treatment
Lung cancer, colorectal cancer, gastric cancer, liver cancer, breast cancer are the top five malignant tumors in China, their common feature is that the early treatment effect is better and ideal, and the probability of recurrence of metastasis in the middle and advanced stages is high, so the key to anti-cancer is early screening, diagnosis and treatment. Many people have misunderstandings or fluke mentality, and sometimes it is fatal.
Professor Wang Cailian reminded that some high-risk groups of cancer, if they can be screened, diagnosed and treated early, they can strive for better efficacy as much as possible. Among them, standardized cancer prevention physical examination is an important way to detect cancer and precancerous lesions.