China kicks off national anti-cancer week, stressing family-based prevention

BEIJING -- China kicked off its 27th National Anti-Cancer Week on Thursday, with 10 medical academicians at the event's opening ceremony jointly stressing the role of family in preventing and fighting the illness.

Themed "Healthy China, Healthy Family," this year's awareness-raising week calls for mutual care and support among family members to develop healthy lifestyles that prevent malignant tumors.

Certain familial infections and behaviors are relevant to the occurrence of cancer, such as liver cancers and lung cancers, said Li Ni, a researcher with the National Cancer Center (NCC).

Long-term unhealthy dietary habits, smoking and excessive drinking, a lack of physical exercise and inharmonious family relations are all factors that can induce cancer, said Zhao Dongbing, a surgeon at the Cancer Hospital of the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences.

Family members should remain alert to physical abnormalities and remind one another to go for medical assistance when they occur, Zhao added.

Around 45 percent of cancers can be prevented through abandoning unhealthy lifestyles, according to research conducted by the NCC and other medical institutions.

Raising awareness of healthy dietary habits, sufficient physical exercise and good mental health among family members is the primary means of warding off the threat of cancer, said He Jie, director of the NCC.

The NCC has compiled a guidance book on family-based cancer prevention, and will implement a national self-help program that helps members of the public to evaluate their risks of getting cancer and access professional cancer screening, said Li.

According to the NCC's guidance book, once a family member is diagnosed with cancer, the whole family should help the patient build confidence about overcoming the disease while relieving his or her mental pressure through communication.

Home is the best place for cancer patients to convalesce, and family members are jointly responsible for providing a relaxed environment conducive to the patient's mental health and for helping the patient gradually return to normal work and life, He said.