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在线翻译:
szdaily -> Opinion -> 
Beating cancer an urgent task
    2017-01-02  08:53    Shenzhen Daily

    Wu Guangqiang

    jw368@163.com

    LUO YIXIAO, a 6-year-old girl in Shenzhen, died of leukemia early in the morning on Dec. 24. Her parents have donated her body to Shenzhen University’s donation center for medical research.

    The little girl’s death drew a great deal of public attention, chiefly because of the public grief for the loss of a young life, yet partly because of the controversy over the way the girl’s father Luo Er initiated an effort to raise funds for her treatment.

    The unhappy episode was eclipsed by the public’s concern for the steadily rising incidences of leukemia and other types of cancer that pose increasing threats to public health, especially children’s health, and inflict a heavy burden on medical expenses.

    I personally watch closely for information on leukemia because one of my sisters succumbed to leukemia after eight years of struggle over 20 years ago when she was only 41.

    The most grueling thing about leukemia is its unknown etiology, the absence of which makes it impossible to cure.

    It’s estimated that there are currently 4 million leukemia patients in China, of which 50 percent are children.

    Sadly, China has so far had a poor record of fighting leukemia and other cancers in comparison with developed countries. The treatment of leukemia in China is more expensive with a longer cycle yet a lower cure rate.

    Available data show that the five-year survival rate is 66 percent for patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia in the U.S. while the rate is only 19.6 percent in China, a huge difference.

    As early as the 1960s, the five-year survival rate for American children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia was already the same level with Chinese children today.

    China is lagging behind not only in the treatment of leukemia, but in that of other cancers as well. For example, the five-year survival rate in China is 73.1 percent vs the U.S.’ 89 percent for breast cancer, 67.5 percent vs 98 percent for thyroid cancer, 67.3 percent vs 78 percent for bladder cancer, and 55 percent vs 99 percent for prostate cancer.

    

    One of the causes for China’s unsatisfactory performance is the gap between two countries’ concepts and strategies in the diagnosis and treatment of cancer. In the U.S., a combination of targeted drug therapy and immunotherapy has replaced chemotherapy while the latter remains the primary method of treating cancer in China.

    Cancer is the leading cause of death in China and its incidence and mortality has been on the rise. An estimated 4.29 million new cancer cases and 2.81 million cancer deaths occurred in China in 2015, with lung cancer being the most common cancer and the leading cause of cancer death.

    Fighting cancer is a costly battle. A survey showed that on average each cancer patient has to spend 65,000 yuan on treatment every year. It’s beyond most Chinese families’ financial ability even if there is some kind of insurance coverage. That’s why many patients have to seek help on social media.

    Many rural families without medical insurance coverage are forced to give up treatment and leave the patient to the mercy of death.

    It is predictable that China will witness an explosion of cancer incidences with the worsening pollution. The horrifying smog in much of the country will likely result in an increase of lung cancer cases.

    So to beat cancer means to curb pollution, or China will stand to suffer more.

    (The author is an English tutor and a freelance writer.)

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Shenzhen Daily E-mail:szdaily@szszd.com.cn