Breast cancer rates soaring in Shanghai

Shanghai may be the mainland's most dynamic and cosmopolitan city, but it also has the highest breast cancer rate. About 4,000 women a year in the city develop the disease.

What's more, said Shen Zhenzhou, professor at the Shanghai Cancer Centre, 15 per cent of new patients are under 35. And more than half of the new cases contracted the disease before reaching menopause, compared with 30 per cent in the United States.

'In recent years, I've seen many young women developing breast cancer in their early 20s, with the youngest only 17,' Shen said on the sidelines of last week's Shanghai Breast Cancer Forum.

Zheng Ying, of the Shanghai Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, said the average breast cancer rate on the mainland was 18.7 per 100,000 women. But in Shanghai, Shen said, it was over 70 per 100,000, compared with 17 in the 1970s.

Many factors are blamed, including genetics, late marriages and unhealthy eating habits and lifestyle.

'Many young people exercise too little and eat too much,' Shen said. 'As the only children of their families, they are pampered and eat plenty of fat. What's more, at a young age, some consume so-called health-enhancing products, which have high levels of oestrogen.'

Huang Jialing , a chief nurse in the centre's breast cancer surgery department, said she was surprised at the soaring rate. Her department has designed a programme to offer young patients free medical and psychological advice.