Youthful detection no defense against breast cancer

A volunteer (center) from an organization that provides advice for women with breast cancer talks with a patient after surgery in a Beijing hospital. Zou Hong / China Daily

While women in China are likely to be diagnosed at an earlier age than those in other countries, the incidence of the disease is still rising.

'It's a really nice day, isn't it? Aren't the colors beautiful?" Hong Wei said, as she lay on a bed on the seventh floor at the Peking Union Medical College Hospital and stared out the window at the sunlight reflecting off the green, teal-tiled roof of a nearby building.

The 26-year-old had a malignant tumor removed from her left breast in April 2013, but when a second growth was detected earlier this year, the physicians at the hospital's breast surgery clinic, who noted there was no history of cancer in Hong's family, suggested a gene test. The results indicated a risk of genetic mutation, so Hong opted to have a preventative double mastectomy. The surgery was performed earlier his month.

"I had the same test as Angelina Jolie. It's cool, isn't it?" Hong said with a wry smile, looking down at the bandages wrapped around her chest and the two thick tubes that carried the discharge from her operation scars. When a nurse checked the tubes, Hong writhed in pain. Eventually, she recovered her composure. "God is fair. He took my breasts away one day before my birthday, but he also gave me a beautiful family. I think all these things are teaching me to be brave," she said.

Incidence rate climbing

Breast cancer is the No 1 cause of death among female cancer patients in China. In Beijing alone, the incidence rate has climbed by 4.6 percent annually in the last two decades, more than double the annual global average of 2 percent.

More than 3 million new cases of cancer were reported in China in 2010, meaning about six people were diagnosed with some form of the disease every minute of the year, according to the latest available data from the China Cancer Registration Center.

In the United States and Europe, women aged 60 to 70 are most at risk of developing breast cancer. Statistics collated at several research institutes in China between 1999 and 2008 show that about 40 percent of patients were diagnosed with the disease between the ages of 40 and 50.

"In China, we pay more attention to checking 'young' breast cancer patients, those aged 40 to 50," said Guan Jinghong, a surgeon at the clinic.

"Those patients are still young enough to get the most out of life, but a cancer diagnosis means they may encounter problems if they try to conceive or breastfeed. It may even lead them to feel embarrassed about their bodies when they're engaged in sexual activity with their partners. We should pay more attention to preventing the disease and to treating it if it does develop," Guan said.