Lung Cancer in Urban China

ung cancer has become the leading cause of cancer death in China with a rapidly increasing trend over the past three decades, especially in urban areas. Smoking is the predominant risk factor for lung cancer. Also, rapid modernization and development has resulted in a large migration from rural areas to cities and a concomitant increase in urban air pollution (1). Due to the high smoking prevalence, severe air pollution and ageing population, lung cancer incidence and mortality in urban China will increase in future decades. Lung cancer screening plays a key role in decreasing lung cancer morality and improving the prognosis of patients, and randomized controlled trials have confirmed the effect of low dose spiral CT screening (LDCT) (2). Accordingly, LDCT screening was approved for Medcare in the United States recently. In urban China, two government-sponsored screening programmes, including lung cancer, were initiated in recent years. This article will give a brief introduction to the lung cancer epidemic, lung cancer prevention and its control in urban China.