'Intelligent' cancer rehabilitation system for city

The Shanghai International Medical Center will establish an "intelligent" cancer rehabilitation system by the end of the year under the direction of leading medical associations.  

The system will be promoted to 500 domestic facilities within five years, when a national intelligent cancer prevention, treatment and rehabilitation network will be formed, experts told a forum on intelligent technology for cancer prevention and control in the city on Saturday.

China hasn’t established an effective and intelligent cancer prevention, treatment and rehabilitation system yet. Early screening, early detection and prevention haven’t been widely promoted in the nation.

Surgery, radiation and chemotherapy are still the major treatments for cancer, which has a 40 percent mortality annually. The annual medical expenses for cancer diagnosis and treatment is 220 billion yuan (US$33.6 billion).

But very few facilities carry out regular rehabilitation service for cancer patients. The five-year survival rate is only 40.6 percent in China, largely below developed countries, medical experts said.

“China lacks cancer rehabilitation professionals with ability in Western and traditional Chinese medicine as well as capability in psychology, bio-medicine and functional medicine," said Dr Liu Weidong, president of the Shanghai International Medical Center. "There is no industry standard, regulation and management rules for cancer rehabilitation."