China is facing "huge challenges" as a new study reveals that in 2015 alone, cancer cases skyrocketed, with an estimated 2.8 million deaths and more than 4.3 million diagnoses. Furthermore, the report says that lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths in the country.

According to the study conducted by Wanqing Chen of Beijing's National Cancer Center, cancer is major public health issue in China. The country, which is home of more than 1.3 billion individuals, records on average 12,000 new cancer diagnoses and 7,500 deaths every day.

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Before, scientists faced difficulties conducting estimates of those who have cancer as the samples only cover a small population (less than 2 percent). Furthermore, the data available were still from the 1990s. In the recent years, however, a much higher data quality has been obtained from a number of population-based registries through the National Central Cancer Registry of China.

Thus, the latest report sheds light on the true state of cancer in China. Using the data obtained from 72 local cancer registries between 2009 and 2011 (representing 6.5% of the population), scientists estimated that there could have been 4,292,000 newly diagnosed invasive cancer cases last year in China.

The research further unveiled that men mostly suffer from lung, esophagus, stomach, colorectum and liver cancer. On the other hand, in women, breast, stomach, lungs, colorectum and esophagus cancer are most common. 

In addition, when all cancers are combined, the mortality rate is higher in men than in women (with 166 versus 88.8 per 100,000 cases, respectively) and in rural communities than in urban areas. 

Since 2006, both genders have shown significantly low mortality rates, at approximately 21% every year. However, because of ageing and increasing population, the overall cases for cancer deaths skyrocketed to up to 74% during the same period. 

Nearly one-third of all cancer deaths account for chronic stomach, liver and cervix infection, while a quarter for tobacco smoking.

China's statistics is creating an impact on the worldwide burden of cancer accounting for nearly 22 percent of new cancer cases and almost 27 percent of cancer deaths.

Of note, experts say both cancer deaths and cases can be prevented by limiting prevalence of risk factors and improving effectiveness of health care especially for those living in rural areas. Of the attributable predisposing factors, environmental pollution was at a low level. However, researchers noted that its influence on health could be experienced for a long time in China, "particularly for people in rural areas who are facing very rudimentary living environments."

TagsCancer, National Cancer Center, china, National Cancer Registry of China