The academician bluntly said: do not advocate healthy people to do cancer screening! Over-checking can hurt yourself

"Cancer screening is a waste of money! Old Li next door has a physical examination every year. Didn't he still find liver cancer last month?" Lao Zhang and his daughter stood at the door of the hospital's medical examination center, but Lao Zhang was reluctant to go in.

"Don't talk about the others, I have already paid the money. It's more than 8,000. Hurry up and check it out for me."

Lao Zhang is an "old smoker" who has been smoking for more than 40 years. After learning about the neighbor's cancer, Lao Zhang's daughter hurriedly made an appointment for a cancer screening package at the local top three hospital, including more than 50 In addition to cancer screening items, this item also includes items such as diabetes and heart disease .

But in Lao Zhang's view, this thing is the "IQ tax", and if you find out a disease, you have to spend money to treat it.

Cancer screening has always been a hot topic. Most hospitals have set up cancer screening packages with a wide range of items and a wide range of prices. Some people think that the expensive ones are good, and some people think that they are just "making money" .

Han Qide, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and a pathophysiologist, once delivered such a speech at the 2016 'Medicine and Humanities Summit Forum': " I do not advocate cancer screening for healthy people , because after early screening of cancer, the actual mortality rate It has not been lowered, and such inspections are really of little significance.”

Is cancer screening really necessary for ordinary people?

1. At least one or two thousand yuan for a cancer screening, is it necessary?

Most hospitals now offer cancer screening packages. Xiaojiu checked the Internet and found that the prices of different hospitals/physical examination centers fluctuated greatly, ranging from one to two thousand as low as more than ten thousand yuan .

Tumor screening package of the Physical Examination Center of the Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital of Panyu District, Guangzhou ( Photo source: Zhongkang Physical Examination Network )

Guangzhou Aikang Junan Physical Examination Center (VVIP Department) Tumor Screening Package ( Source: Zhongkang Physical Examination Network )

The purpose of cancer screening is to let the subjects know their own cancer risk, and to detect precancerous lesions or early cancers early, so as to intervene at an early stage. But cancer screening does not mean that the more items and the more expensive it is, the better and more comprehensive it is.

Liu Juntian, director of the Cancer Prevention Medicine Center of Tianjin Medical University Cancer Hospital , believes that cancer screening should be personalized, and it is not recommended for everyone to do a full set of cancer screening programs . It is damaging, and doing too much may cause some damage to the body.

Similarly, Academician Han Qide also believes that it is not recommended for everyone to go for universal cancer screening. They should have targeted screenings based on their own symptoms . If you have no symptoms, do not go for screenings. Otherwise, you will be over-examined and over-treated, which will actually be harmful to your health. .

2. Early detection of cancer may save many families hundreds of thousands

In 2020, a study in the journal Cancer analyzed the financial distress of cancer patients in China.

The study pointed out that 1 in 2 Chinese cancer patients borrowed money to see a doctor, and 18% of them borrowed more than 50,000 , and 1 in 10 patients had to give up some cancers due to lack of money. treatment method.

If early cancer screening can be done well, a large number of patients and their families can avoid this dilemma.

So early detection of cancer is important, especially in high-risk groups. The focus of cancer screening is to personalize screening, rather than blindly choosing various packages .

3. How to do cancer screening? Explain once and for all

Recently, the 28th National Cancer Prevention Awareness Week was successfully held in Beijing. At the event, the National Cancer Center gave the latest guidelines for major cancer screening and early diagnosis and treatment methods.

1. Esophageal cancer: endoscopy

High-risk groups : over 40 years old, smoking and drinking for a long time, having a family history of esophageal cancer, living in an area with high incidence of esophageal cancer, like to eat hot food, pickled, rough food, having a foreign body sensation or pain when swallowing, etc.

Recommendations for screening : high-risk groups should receive an endoscopy , if there is no abnormality, follow-up endoscopy every 2-3 years; if abnormal, follow-up endoscopy once a year.

2. Gastric cancer: gastroscopy

High-risk groups : over 40 years old, with a history of smoking, alcoholism, Helicobacter pylori infection, living in areas with high incidence of gastric cancer, and having a family history of gastric cancer.

Screening recommendations : Gastric endoscopy is the first choice for gastric cancer screening . High-risk groups are recommended to undergo a gastroscopy once, and if there is no abnormality, a gastroscopy can be performed every 2-3 years;

3. Lung cancer: low-dose spiral CT

High-risk groups : aged 40-74 years old, with a history of smoking or second-hand smoke, occupational exposure for more than 1 year, a history of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and a first-degree relative who has been diagnosed with lung cancer.

Screening recommendations : Low-dose spiral CT screening should be performed once a year in high-risk groups .

4. Liver cancer: serum alpha-fetoprotein detection combined with abdominal ultrasonography

High-risk groups : men aged 45-74 years old, women aged 50-70 years, with a history of hepatitis B/C infection, liver cirrhosis, and a history of liver cancer in first- or second-degree relatives.

Recommendations for screening : Serum alpha-fetoprotein detection combined with abdominal ultrasonography is the first choice for high-risk groups , and then further diagnosis, treatment and re-examination plans are determined based on the comprehensive evaluation results.

5. Colorectal cancer: colonoscopy and fecal occult blood testing

High-risk groups : Men 40 years of age and older, positive fecal occult blood test, history of smoking, overweight or obesity, and family history of colorectal cancer in a first-degree relative.

Screening recommendations : High-risk groups aged 40-75 and low- and medium-risk groups aged 50-74 should be screened for colorectal cancer. A high-quality colonoscopy is recommended every 5-10 years , plus a FIT every year.

6. Breast Cancer: Breast Ultrasound

High-risk groups : menarche before the age of 12, menopause after the age of 55, a family history of breast or ovarian cancer, a history of breast biopsy or surgery for benign breast diseases, etc.

Screening recommendations : For high-risk groups and dense breast populations, breast ultrasound combined with mammography is recommended for screening, and only breast ultrasound for the general population . High-risk groups should receive annual breast cancer screening after the age of 40, and the general population aged 45-70 should receive breast cancer screening every 1-2 years.

3. 1/3 of cancer is preventable, don't ignore early symptoms

Qiu Meng, chief physician of the Department of Abdominal Oncology, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, reminded that daily attention should be paid to physical discomfort and changes, which may be signals from cancer or precancerous diseases.

1. Unexplained weight loss

If there is an unexplained weight loss of more than 5% within 6 months to 1 year, and benign disease factors such as insufficient energy intake, abnormal blood sugar, abnormal thyroid function, and chronic diarrhea have been excluded, cancer should be alerted.

2. Unexplained mass on the body surface

In particular, unexplained lumps appear on the surface of the neck, armpits, breasts, groin, testicles and other parts of the body. And accompanied by poor activity, redness, pain, short-term rapid growth, and abnormal blood vessels, stains or color changes, check as soon as possible.

3. Changes in bowel habits

If there is long-term constipation, diarrhea, or changes in bowel habits such as alternating constipation and diarrhea , you should be alert to the occurrence of gastrointestinal tumors, as well as pancreatic cancer and liver cancer.

4. Persistent cough

Lung cancer, breast cancer, colon cancer, kidney cancer, prostate cancer, etc., may cause persistent cough.

5. Unexplained pain

Including chronic diseases, bone lesions, direct or indirect compression of primary tumors or metastatic tumors, etc. If unexplained persistent pain occurs, especially deep pain , we must actively find out the cause of the pain and be alert to the occurrence of cancer.

Cancer is not a terminal disease. As long as it is detected and treated early, many cancers can still be cured. Regular checkups are a good thing, but cancer screenings need to be tailored to your risk of developing cancer, or you're wasting money and hurting your body.

You should also pay more attention to the changes in your body every day. Once you find any abnormal symptoms, you should go to the hospital for relevant examinations in time.

References:

[1] Is tens of thousands of "cancer screenings" worth it? A strategy for early cancer screening suitable for Chinese people. Life Times. 2019-05-22

[2] The latest release from the National Cancer Center: Screening methods for 6 major cancers! .Health Times.2022-04-14

[3] 14 Cancer Signals You Must Know | Doctor's Business Card. Health China. 2021-12-19

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