Recently, the National Cancer Center and Cancer Hospital of the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences published data on the prevalence of malignant tumors in China in 2016 in the Chinese Journal of Cancer, which to some extent represents the latest data analysis on cancer incidence and death in China.

The report, An Analysis of the Prevalence of Malignant Tumors in China in 2016, was collected until August 31, 2019, covering 380 million people in 31 Chinese provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the central government.

From the statistical point of view, there are some differences in the major prevalent and high mortality cancers among provinces. Take lung cancer, the most common cancer in China, for example. In Xizang, Gansu and Qinghai provinces, lung cancer does not rank first. Although nasopharyngeal carcinoma ranks 20th in the incidence of cancer in China, it is the most common type of cancer in Guangdong, Guangxi and Hainan, ranking fifth in incidence.

In terms of the number of cases, lung cancer is still the first malignant tumor in China. In 2016, there were about 828,100 new cases of lung cancer in China, and 65700 deaths due to lung cancer.

About 830,000 cases of lung cancer occur each year, which may be related to China's high smoking rate. The Lancet Global Health has published research showing that 45.2 per cent of cancer deaths among Chinese adults aged 20 or older are linked to modifiable risk factors such as smoking. Twenty-four percent and 4.8 percent of lung cancer deaths in Chinese men and women can be attributed to smoking.

Other modifiable risk factors are second-hand smoke, alcohol consumption, physical inactivity, unhealthy diet, being overweight or obese, diabetes, UV exposure and PM2.5. Notably, lung cancer is also trending younger.

People in Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai and Guangdong are less likely to develop esophageal cancer, ranking around 15th in all of these regions despite having the sixth highest incidence of the disease in China. And in Shanghai and Tianjin, the death rate of esophageal cancer has dropped to the 10th place.

However, the incidence of kidney cancer in Beijing and Shanghai is significantly higher than the average level in China, ranking in the top 10 regional cancer incidence rates, while the incidence of this type of cancer ranks 15th overall in China.

Guangdong's high cancer profile is characterized by nasopharyngeal cancer, which ranks sixth, but 20th overall in China. The situation is similar in Guangxi and Hainan.

In an analysis published by Pan Zhan, deputy chief physician of the Department of Oncology at Xiamen University's Zhongshan Hospital, cancer in China is characterized by a decline in "poor cancer" and a rise in "rich cancer".

In March, the Office of the Healthy China Action Promotion Committee issued the Work Points of the Healthy China Action 2023, involving the "cancer prevention and control action", suggesting that high-risk groups should choose professional physical examination institutions for regular cancer prevention physical examination, and choose appropriate intervals for physical examination according to the individual's age and previous examination results.

Currently, most common cancers can be found early by means of medical technology, such as gastrointestinal tract cancer can be found by gastroenteroscopy, lung cancer can be found by low-dose spiral CT in the chest, and breast cancer can be found by ultrasound combined with molybdenum target.