CURRENT STATUS OF LUNG-CANCER DIAGNOSIS AND TREATMENT IN SHANGHAI

The status of diagnosis and treatment of lung cancers discovered durin g 1 year in the Shanghai population are presented. A total of 940 lung cancers was detected from inhabitants of 35-64 years of age, with a m ale/female ratio of 1.8:1. Pathology showed 5.7% adenocarcinoma and 35 .1% squamous cell carcinoma. There was a predominance of adenocarcinom a (47.6%) in females and of squamous cell carcinoma (44.6%) in males. Most (68.6%) of the lesions detected were already advanced in contrast to 14.7% of Stage I disease. The need for vigilance on the part of do ctors was demonstrated by the fact that 23.3% of patients were seen by the doctor within 1 month after presenting with symptoms and 44.5% of them had their diagnosis suspected within 1 month after their first h ospital visit. The treatment consisted of surgery for 33.3%, chemother apy for 35%, traditional Chinese medicine for 20% and symptomatic mana gement for 9.6% of patients. As only 55.8% Stage I patients were treat ed by surgery, the treatment protocol seemed to be improperly biased. The adequate training of health workers was shown by the fact that 79. 7% of these patients were confirmed by pathology and/or cytology and m ost of the Stage I lesions were diagnosed outside the hospital.