AS Nov. 17 marks International Lung Cancer Awareness Day, Shenzhen People’s Hospital hosted a lung cancer summit Saturday and invited top experts from Sweden and China to share the latest developments in lung cancer research regarding screening, diagnosis and integrated treatment.

The summit also witnessed the establishment of the lung cancer professional committee of the Union of Chinese Oncology Management.

The committee will be committed to the standardized prevention and treatment of lung cancer, technical and academic promotion, clinical research, transformation research and more to improve lung cancer prevention and treatment.

According to statistics released by the National Cancer Center, more than 10,000 people nationwide are diagnosed with cancer every day, which means seven people are diagnosed with cancer every minute. Lung cancer accounts for between 20 and 21 percent of all cancers.

Lung cancer has ranked first in Shenzhen for incidence of malignant tumors for more than 10 consecutive years. According to Wang Suoguang, director of the thoracic surgery department at the hospital, the incidence of lung cancer has shown new characteristics and trends in the past decade.

Firstly, many lung cancer patients are nonsmoking women, which may be related to their exposure to secondhand smoke, indoor oil fumes and fuel pollution, and outdoor air pollution.

Secondly, an increasing number of people have more pulmonary tubercles and are diagnosed with lung adenocarcinoma, which may be related to PM2.5 as it is easy to destroy alveolar cells.

Thirdly, the proportion of young patients is increasing. Lung cancer is also related to genetic factors, smoking and smog.

Wang said that in recent years, more and more residents are aware of the importance of early-stage cancer screening. Through low-dose spiral CT screening, the rate of early-stage lung cancer has increased. For instance, the rate of early-stage lung cancer in the hospital’s thoracic surgery department is as high as 80 percent.

Meanwhile, thanks to the application of new technologies, such as artificial intelligence and liquid biopsy, the sensitivity and accuracy of diagnosis have also improved. (Zhang Yu)