China joins hands with Japan, South Korea for cancer control

The China Japan South Korea Cancer Prevention and Control Conference has been held in Beijing recently, aiming to further deepen cooperation in the field among the three partners.

Nearly 100 experts in cancer intervention from the three countries attended the meeting held by China National Cancer Center.

Hitoshi Nakagama, head of the National Cancer Center in Japan shared national experience fighting cancer.

According to him, In Japan, prevention has become a major focus for cancer control programs at the moment.

In past years, efforts to curb infection related cancers like the liver and cervical cancers have been in place as well, including the government's introducing the treatment and vaccination related, he specified.

To date, the hepatitis C, the major cause for liver cancer, screening rate has reached 50 percent in Japan, which should be further increased, he added.

But problems, as he recognized, existed as well.

For cervical cancer and HPV vaccine, "we have big trouble," he noted.

Some young women, only a small fraction, showed serious side effects after the HPV vaccination, which caused wider public resistance to the cancer-preventing vaccination, he said.

As a result, the nationwide vaccination program started and funded by the government got held for fear of side effects.

He urged for more researches and investigations related to figure out what recipients of the HPV vaccine are prone to adverse reactions after getting the shots.

"We don't have enough data related now," he said.

Under such circumstance, he suggested women go through screening regularly, starting in 20s.

Currently, the screening rate is 20 to 30 percent for cervical cancer in Japan, he said.

But in reality, many young are reluctant to go through the screening, which is delayed into the 40s, he added.