Cancer is the leading cause of death in China and depicting the cancer pattern of China would provide basic knowhows on how to tackle it more effectively. In this study we have reviewed several reports of cancer burden, including the Global cancer statistics 2018 and Cancer statistics in China, 2015, along with the GLOBCAN 2018 online database, to investigate the differences of cancer patterns between China, the United States (USA) and the United Kingdom (UK). An estimated 4.3 million new cancer cases and 2.9 million new cancer deaths occurred in China in 2018. Compared to the USA and UK, China has lower cancer incidence but a 30% and 40% higher cancer mortality than the UK and USA, among which 36.4% of the cancer-related deaths were from the digestive tract cancers (stomach, liver, and esophagus cancer) and have relatively poorer prognoses. In comparison, the digestive cancer deaths only took up ≤ 5% of the total cancer deaths in either USA or UK. Other reasons for the higher mortality in China may be the low rate of early-stage cancers at diagnosis and non-uniformed clinical cancer treatment strategies performed by different regions. China is undergoing the cancer transition stage where the cancer spectrum is changing from developing country to developed country, with a rapidly increase cancer burden of colorectal, prostate, female breast cancers in addition to a high occurrence of infection-related and digestive cancers. The incidence of westernized lifestyle-related cancers in China (i.e. colorectal cancer, prostate, bladder cancer) has risen but the incidence of the digestive cancers has decreased from 2000 to 2011. An estimated 40% of the risk factors can be attributed to environmental and lifestyle factors either in China or other developed countries. Tobacco smoking is the single most important carcinogenic risk factor in China, contributing to ~ 24.5% of cancers in males. Chronic infection is another important preventable cancer contributor which is responsible for ~ 17% of cancers. Comprehensive prevention and control strategies in China should include effective tobacco-control policy, recommendations for healthier lifestyles, along with enlarging the coverage of effective screening, educating, and vaccination programs to better sensitize greater awareness control to the general public.

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Current cancer situation in China: Good or bad news from the 2018 Global Cancer Statistics?

The cancer burden in the United States of America (USA) has decreased gradually. However, China is experiencing a transition in its cancer profiles, with greater incidence of cancers that were previously more common in the USA. This study compared the latest cancer profiles, trends, and determinants between China and USA.This was a comparative study using open-source data. Cancer cases and deaths in 2022 were calculated using cancer estimates from GLOBOCAN 2020 and population estimates from the United Nations. Trends in cancer incidence and mortality rates in the USA used data from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results program and National Center for Health Statistics. Chinese data were obtained from cancer registry reports. Data from the Global Burden of Disease 2019 and a decomposition method were used to express cancer deaths as the product of four determinant factors.In 2022, there will be approximately 4,820,000 and 2,370,000 new cancer cases, and 3,210,000 and 640,000 cancer deaths in China and the USA, respectively. The most common cancers are lung cancer in China and breast cancer in the USA, and lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in both. Age-standardized incidence and mortality rates for lung cancer and colorectal cancer in the USA have decreased significantly recently, but rates of liver cancer have increased slightly. Rates of stomach, liver, and esophageal cancer decreased gradually in China, but rates have increased for colorectal cancer in the whole population, prostate cancer in men, and other seven cancer types in women. Increases in adult population size and population aging were major determinants for incremental cancer deaths, and case-fatality rates contributed to reduced cancer deaths in both countries.The decreasing cancer burden in liver, stomach, and esophagus, and increasing burden in lung, colorectum, breast, and prostate, mean that cancer profiles in China and the USA are converging. Population aging is a growing determinant of incremental cancer burden. Progress in cancer prevention and care in the USA, and measures to actively respond to population aging, may help China to reduce the cancer burden. 

Cancer statistics in China and United States, 2022: profiles, trends, and determinants

https://www.gastrojournal.org/article/S0016-5085(20)30452-2/pdf

Global Burden of 5 Major Types of Gastrointestinal Cancer

Abstract Background: The cancer burden in the United States of America (USA) has decreased gradually. However, China is experiencing a transition in its cancer profiles, with greater incidence of cancers that were previously more common in the USA. This study compared the latest cancer profiles, trends, and determinants between China and USA. Methods: This was a comparative study using open-source data. Cancer cases and deaths in 2022 were calculated using cancer estimates from GLOBOCAN 2020 and population estimates from the United Nations. Trends in cancer incidence and mortality rates in the USA used data from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results program and National Center for Health Statistics. Chinese data were obtained from cancer registry reports. Data from the Global Burden of Disease 2019 and a decomposition method were used to express cancer deaths as the product of four determinant factors. Results: In 2022, there will be approximately 4,820,000 and 2,370,000 new cancer cases, and 3,210,000 and 640,000 cancer deaths in China and the USA, respectively. The most common cancers are lung cancer in China and breast cancer in the USA, and lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in both. Age-standardized incidence and mortality rates for lung cancer and colorectal cancer in the USA have decreased significantly recently, but rates of liver cancer have increased slightly. Rates of stomach, liver, and esophageal cancer decreased gradually in China, but rates have increased for colorectal cancer in the whole population, prostate cancer in men, and other seven cancer types in women. Increases in adult population size and population aging were major determinants for incremental cancer deaths, and case-fatality rates contributed to reduced cancer deaths in both countries. Conclusions: The decreasing cancer burden in liver, stomach, and esophagus, and increasing burden in lung, colorectum, breast, and prostate, mean that cancer profiles in China and the USA are converging. Population aging is a growing determinant of incremental cancer burden. Progress in cancer prevention and care in the USA, and measures to actively respond to population aging, may help China to reduce the cancer burden.

https://doi.org/10.1097/cm9.0000000000002108

Cancer is the leading cause of human deaths in the world and produces serious economic burdens. On September 12, 2018, the academic journal A Cancer Journal for Clinicians published an article about the latest statistics of cancers worldwide, which provided a status report on the global burden of 36 cancers in 185 countries worldwide. Cancer has also become a serious public health problem in China and caused more and more attention of the government and people in recent years. This review analyzes the incidence, mortality and prevalent trend of cancers in China, discusses the reasons behind this status, and reviews the potential countermeasures for cancer prevention and control in China.

Fangxian Fu

Papers

Changing cancer survival in China during 2003–15: a pooled analysis of 17 population-based cancer registries