Lung cancer program for Xuhui
Officials from Xuhui District and Shanghai Chest Hospital unveil a program for a community-based lung cancer screening, prevention and control program.
Shanghai Chest Hospital has teamed up with Xuhui District Health Commission on a community-based lung cancer prevention and control program which screens people at high risk and provides green channels and different levels of medical services.
The district’s disease control and prevention center and all 13 neighborhood health centers are included in the program. General physicians screen patients based on their records and family history and those at high risk will receive low-doze computer tomography, or LDCT, at Shanghai Chest Hospital.
Results will be sent to GPs directly, who help patients reserve out-patient appointments with specialists at the hospital and follow the treatment process.
“Those detected with lung cancer or other conditions which need medical treatment can enjoy a green channel at Shanghai Chest, which also gives GP guidance on follow-up treatment and rehabilitation after patients are transferred back to the community after surgery,” said Dr Pan Changqing, the hospital’s president.
A trial six years ago found that early screening could improve the detection of early lung cancer by 90 percent and reduce the death rate by 20 percent. All those detected with lung cancer at an early stage had survived for over five years, a term for clinical recovery, doctors said.
“Based on previous achievements in early screening, we decided to expand the program to all communities in Xuhui and further cooperate with health authorities in order to make GPs play a more important role in disease detection and patient management,” said Dr Han Baohui, leader of the program at the hospital.
Ren Xuelei, vice director of the district’s health commission, said the new program helps set up a disease prevention and control system through the CDC, professional hospital and GP and a whole-process disease management from screening, patient transfer, CT scan, diagnosis, treatment and rehabilitation for better lung cancer prevention and control.
“Investment and efforts on screening and early intervention in lung cancer are very economic and we will report our results to the government for wider promotion if it runs successfully,” Ren said.
Dr Han Baohui discuss cases with his colleagues at Shanghai Chest Hospital.
