New guidelines promote fresh approach to breast cancer care

Authorities hope to detect disease earlier and prolong patients' survival times

Health authorities in China are promoting a national package of breast cancer prevention and treatment standards.

The aim is to prolong patients' survival times and narrow the gap in diagnosis and treatment between urban and rural areas.

A series of guidelines covering breast cancer screening, early diagnosis and treatment, and rational drug use to follow-up treatment and management of concomitant diseases were released on March 30 at a cancer and health conference held by the National Cancer Center, the Cancer Foundation of China, the Beijing Breast Disease Society and related institutions.

Data released by the center in March last year showed that the mortality rate for breast cancer in China accounted for 16.5 percent of all cancers in females.

As breast cancer continues to lay claim to the highest incidence rates both at home and abroad, its rate of cure has been improving steadily in China, with the five-year survival rate reaching 83.2 percent between 2010 and 2014, a rise of 7.3 percent from 2000.

As the survival time has been significantly prolonged, more patients have entered periods of chronic disease, according to the center's guidelines for breast cancer follow-up and overall management of concomitant diseases. Common concomitant conditions include cardiovascular disease, abnormal bone metabolism and depression.