< h1 class= "pgc-h-arrow-right" >01 Severe abdominal pain, diagnosed pancreatic cancer</h1>
A year ago, 48-year-old Mr. Gao suddenly appeared intermittent abdominal distention pain, at first did not pay attention, after more than a month, abdominal pain gradually worsened into persistent pain, and then he went to the gastroenterology department of the local hospital, did abdominal CT and PET-CT examination, found that the pancreas has a mass and liver multiple placeholders, after liver biopsy confirmed that the liver has infiltrated adenocarcinoma, accompanied by a large number of cells necrosis.
In fact, before that, Mr. Gao also had a past history. A year and a half ago, due to fever, nausea, abdominal pain and jaundice, he underwent emergency surgery at the local hospital, and the diagnosis was "severe chronic pancreatitis", the pathological report of the operation showed "severe chronic pancreatitis active period", and there was no other special history.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" >02 suspected to have previously been misdiagnosed</h1>
Considering that pancreatic cancer has multiple liver metastases, Mr. Gao decided to go directly to the United States for treatment. After arriving in the United States, pathologists and clinicians discussed collectively and highly suspected that Mr. Gao had not previously suffered from pancreatitis, but highly differentiated invasive pancreatic cancer.
After pathological diagnostic evaluation, the final diagnosis was "residual pancreas and pancreatic cancer with multiple liver metastases". The doctor developed a treatment plan for Mr. Gao, and after 2 cycles of chemotherapy, the effect was good, and then the patient chose to return to China to continue chemotherapy.
Pancreatic cancer is the king of cancer, most pancreatic cancer patients are already advanced when they are found, which brings great difficulties to treatment, and many patients with conditions want to treat cancer abroad. So, how are China and the United States performing in cancer treatment?
<h1 class = "pgc-h-arrow-right" >, cancer reports are out, how are China and the United States performing? </h1>
On January 8, 2020, the U.S. Cancer Statistics 2020 was released, a report published annually by the American Oncology Society in CA: Journal of Clinician Cancer detailing the latest cancer incidence in the United States.
The report shows that cancer mortality in the United States fell by 29 percent between 1991 and 2017, including 2.2 percent between 2016 and 2017, the largest annual decline in cancer mortality in the United States since recorded. The report notes that this is mainly related to the long-term decline in mortality from four common cancers: lung, breast, colorectal and prostate cancers.
In terms of five-year survival, the overall five-year relative survival rate for all cancers was 67 percent between 2009 and 2015, with 68 percent for whites and 62 percent for blacks.
Chart: Cancer mortality rates in men and women in the United States
According to the latest 2019 "China Cancer Survey Report" report released by the China Cancer Center, the incidence of malignant tumors in China was about 3.929 million people in 2015, an increase of 125,000 over 3.804 million in 2014, with a growth rate of 3.2%. That is to say, in Our country, an average of more than 10,000 people are diagnosed with cancer every day, and 7.5 people are diagnosed with cancer every minute, while the average five-year survival rate of cancer in China is 30.9%.
It can be seen that the overall survival rate and incidence trend are very different, what is the reason for such a huge difference?
<h1 class = "pgc-h-arrow-right" > second, the U.S. cancer data improved, the main reasons are 3 points</h1>
1. Attach importance to cancer screening and continuously promote it
About 1/3 of cancer can be effectively prevented, which is the consensus of the medical community and the truth about tumors. Among them, early cancer screening and healthy lifestyle are recognized by cancer experts in various countries as the key to cancer prevention.
In particular, early detection and early treatment, a large number of clinical data show that the cure rate of many stage 1 cancers can reach more than 90%, such as the 5-year survival rate of early prostate cancer is about 99%; the 5-year survival rate of early thyroid cancer is about 98%; the 5-year survival rate of early testicular cancer is about 95.1%; the 5-year survival rate of early stage melanoma is about 91.7%; and the 5-year survival rate of early breast cancer is about 99%.
The U.S. Cancer Report emphasizes that the key to the rapid decline in the incidence of colorectal cancer, one of the major cancers in the United States, over the past 10 years is screening. In China, about 60% to 80% of cancer patients are already in the middle and advanced stages when they first visit.
2. High doctor-patient ratio, comprehensive diagnosis
In order to ensure the quality of medical treatment, some American doctors only see five patients a week, and the average time to see a patient is about 45 minutes. In China, the time allocated to a patient in a general outpatient clinic is usually about 5 minutes, and the time for an expert outpatient clinic is about 10 minutes.
Diseases can be misdiagnosed, let alone tumors. According to statistics from a cancer hospital in the United States, the misdiagnosis rate of the original pathological diagnosis of international patients they admitted was as high as 25%. In the United States, pathological diagnosis is the "gold standard" for treating cancer, the cornerstone of all treatments, and only with the right diagnosis can there be correct treatment.
3. Cutting-edge drugs and therapies
A 2015 statistic shows that the United States accounts for about 48.7% of the world's new drugs, while China's is only 4.1%. In addition, the United States is also the country with the most immune and targeted drugs, and most of the world's cutting-edge research and clinical research on drugs will be carried out in the United States, which will accelerate the pace of new drug listing.
In terms of cancer treatment, multidisciplinary coordination in the United States is the key to treating cancer, and experts from various departments will form a unified working group, conduct regular consultations, jointly formulate treatment plans, and finally implement treatment plans jointly or individually by relevant disciplines.
Speaking of cancer, we have to go back to the cancer that Mr. Gao encountered at the beginning of the article, the pancreatic cancer of the "king of cancer", one of the top ten malignant tumors that led to the death of cancer patients. So, why is pancreatic cancer called the "king of all cancers"? Can you find any traces of it?
<h1 class= "pgc-h-arrow-right" > third, why pancreatic cancer is called the "king of all cancers"</h1>
Pancreatic cancer is one of the most malignant and poorly prognostic tumors, with a rapid onset of disease, known as the "king of all cancers".
In pancreatic cancer, there is a special pancreatic tumor, that is, pancreatic neuroendocrine tumor, it will secrete a variety of endocrine hormones, slow growth, low incidence, hidden disease, very easy to miss and misdiagnose, although relatively rare, but it is easy to occur liver metastasis, the final cause of death of patients is liver failure.
The biggest reason why pancreatic cancer is so malignant is that the pancreas is located in the middle of the human organs, which is difficult to detect when lesions occur, and clinical symptoms usually appear when the advanced tumor invades the nervous system.
There are 4 main symptoms of pancreatic cancer:
Pain in the epigastric region and gradually accompanied by back pain, felt more painfully due to the extension of the tumor when lying flat;
There is no reason for weight loss, and the original weight is reduced by more than 10% within half a year;
Jaundice caused by compression of the common bile ducts due to the constant growth of the tumor.
Other symptoms may include anorexia, nausea, vomiting, and indigestion.
Although the United States has many advantages in cancer treatment, cancer is a very complex disease after all, and China has more experience in some tumors, and going to the United States for medical treatment is not suitable for every patient. It is believed that with the continuous progress of China's medical technology, the gap between Cancer Diagnosis and Treatment between China and the United States will gradually narrow.
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Resources:
[1] Cancer mortality in the United States recorded the largest single-year decline in history. China News Network.2020-01-09
Gou Fo. Where is the gap between Chinese and American medical care[J].Everyone's Health, 2015:15.
[3] Why pancreatic cancer is the "king of cancer"[J].Geriatric Health, 2017:11.
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