Research unveils cancer issues among China's wealthy
About one-third of new cancer cases in China are detected during health checks and screenings, but the majority are still found after people visit hospital, new research shows.
Health checkups and screenings have become the main detection method of cancer for people who don't have symptoms and allow for early-stage identification, the research found.
These patients have much higher survival chances through proper and timely treatment, industry insiders told the annual Finance Summit of Asia.
The research findings were included in a green paper on the health condition of high net-worth individuals in China released at the summit.
The research, which covered about 300,000 individuals undergoing health checkups between October 2020 and September 2021, showed the incidence of cancer was about one in every 1,000.
Thyroid cancer was the most prevalent among wealthy people, followed by lung cancer, breast cancer, cervical cancer and liver cancer, the research found.
"Among 324 people, including 215 females, with cancer, 252 were over 40 years old. Clinically, 40 is the key age to undergo various cancer screening for effective and early detection," said Zhang Ligang, president of iKang Healthcare Group, which commissioned the green paper.
Besides cancer, cervical vertebra problems, overweight, thyroid nodules and osteoporosis are the leading health concerns of rich people.
"For males, high blood fat and high uric acid were the most prevalent health problems and need more awareness," Zhang said.
There were 4.57 million cancer cases reported in China last year.