Current status of lung cancer diagnosis and treatment in Shanghai.
The status of diagnosis and treatment of lung cancers discovered during 1 year in the Shanghai population are presented. A total of 940 lung cancers was detected from inhabitants of 35-64 years of age, with a male/female ratio of 1.8:1. Pathology showed 35.7% adenocarcinoma and 35.1% squamous cell carcinoma. There was a predominance of adenocarcinoma (47.6%) in females and of squamous cell carcinoma (44.6%) in males. Most (68.6%) of the lesions detected were already advanced in contrast to 14.7% of Stage I disease. The need for vigilance on the part of doctors was demonstrated by the fact that 23.3% of patients were seen by the doctor within 1 month after presenting with symptoms and 44.5% of them had their diagnosis suspected within 1 month after their first hospital visit. The treatment consisted of surgery for 33.3%, chemotherapy for 35%, traditional Chinese medicine for 20% and symptomatic management for 9.6% of patients. As only 55.8% Stage I patients were treated by surgery, the treatment protocol seemed to be improperly biased. The adequate training of health workers was shown by the fact that 79.7% of these patients were confirmed by pathology and/or cytology and most of the Stage I lesions were diagnosed outside the hospital.
Liao
M L
ML
Yang
Z P
ZP
Ling
Z Q
ZQ
Gao
Y T
YT
Gao
R N
RN
Zheng
W
W
Zhao
J J
JJ
Wang
Z X
ZX
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000628:therapy; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D013997:Time Factors