Seniors to get free cancer screenings

Local community health centers will begin offering elderly residents free screenings for colorectal cancer this year, the Shanghai Municipal Center for Disease Control and Prevention announced Sunday.

The screenings, which were announced a day ahead of the annual World Cancer Day, aim to curb the rapidly increasing incidence rate of one of the city's most prevalent and dangerous forms of cancer.

Under the program, senior citizens can go to their local community health centers to receive a fecal occult blood test (FOBT) at no cost. Those found with a higher risk of developing the disease will then receive a colonoscopy, said Leng Guangming, a senior director at the Shanghai Municipal Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

Leng did not disclose how old a resident has to be to qualify for the free test. However, the program will cover a wide range of residents, said Zheng Yin, a senior employee with the center's cancer prevention department.

The number of colorectal cancer cases in Shanghai has been growing by about 4 percent each year since the 1970s, according to the Shanghai Municipal Health Bureau. Currently, the disease strikes about 56 residents per 100,000. It is one of the five most prevalent cancers in the city, along with lung, breast, liver and stomach cancer. About 50,000 people are diagnosed with cancer each year in Shanghai, which has a higher cancer rate than most other cities in China. There are currently more than 250,000 cancer patients in Shanghai, including 40,000 with breast cancer and 40,000 with colorectal cancer.

About 43 percent of colorectal cancer patients in Shanghai survive for five years after discovering the disease, some 10 to 15 percentage points lower than patients in Western countries, according to the center.

The problem is that most local patients discover the disease too late. According to the center, only 11.8 percent of patients discover colorectal cancer at an early stage, when it is most treatable. No more than 5 percent of locals have taken an FOBT, and only 3 percent have ever had a colonoscopy.

The center's program is designed to detect colorectal cancer early, Zheng said.

Still, she also advised senior citizens to see their doctors for regular annual check-ups. "We suggest that residents take the FOBT once a year after they hit age 50, and undergo a colonoscopy once every five years," she told the Global Times.