Cancer is still a major health problem in China although numerous efforts have been made for its prevention and control. Findings from this study showed that lung cancer remains the most common type of cancer diagnosed, and was attributed to nearly 30% of all cancer‐related deaths. The incidence of the five most common cancers, in China, in 2015, including cancers of the lungs, stomach, colorectum, liver and breast, accounted for almost 60% of all cancers diagnosed. The high cancer burden in China highlights the need for further improvement in health education, professional training and the building up an anti‐cancer network for introducing and implementing sustainable actions for cancer control.

ObjectiveTo summarize the cancer burden and trends in China, compare the differences among China, Japan, and South Korea and discuss possible causes of the disparities. MethodsIncidence and mortality data were extracted from the online cancer database including the GLOBOCAN 2018 and the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017. Trend analysis was conducted using the join-point analysis, and annual percent changes were calculated. ResultsCancers resulted in approximately 62.9 million disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) in China in 2017. Lung cancer had the greatest contribution, followed by liver cancer, stomach cancer, and esophageal cancer. The trajectory of progress in the reduction of liver and stomach cancers was observed in China. However, China still faced a heavy burden of lung cancer and a growing burden of cancers related to westernized lifestyle such as colorectal cancer, while Japan and South Korea have achieved reductions in colorectal cancer and lung cancer, respectively. Besides, China had a lower age-standardized cancer incidence rate but higher cancer mortality and DALY rates than Japan and South Korea. ConclusionsChina is in the cancer transition stage with a rising burden of colorectal, prostate, and breast cancers along with a heavy burden of lung and upper digestive tract cancers. Taking into consideration the effectiveness of screening and tobacco control in Japan and South Korea, improvement in the current tobacco control policy and cancer screening systems may contribute to cancer control in China.

Nationwide organized gastric cancer (GC) screening programs have been running for decades in South Korea and Japan. This study conducted a quasi-experimental analysis to assess the population impact of these programs on GC mortality. We used the flexible synthetic control method (SCM) to estimate the effect of the screening programs on age-standardized GC mortality and other upper gastrointestinal (UGI) diseases (esophageal cancer and peptic ulcer) among people aged ≥40 years. World Health Organization mortality data and country-level covariates from the World Bank and the Global Burden of Diseases study were used for the analyses. We compared postintervention trends in outcome with the counterfactual trend of the synthetic control and estimated average postintervention rate ratios (RRs) with associated 95% confidence intervals (CIs). A series of sensitivity analyses were conducted. The preintervention fits were acceptable for the analyses of South Korea and Japan's GC mortality but poor for Japan's other UGI disease mortality. The average postintervention RRs were 0.83 (95% CI, 0.71-0.96) for GC mortality and 0.72 (95% CI, 0.57-0.90) for other UGI disease mortality in South Korea. The RR reached 0.59 by the 15th year after the initiation of nationwide screening. For Japan, the average RRs were 0.97 (95% CI, 0.88-1.07) for GC mortality and 0.93 (95% CI, 0.68-1.28) for other UGI disease mortality. Sensitivity analysis reveals the result for Japan may potentially be biased. South Korea's nationwide GC screening has apparent benefits, whereas the Japanese program's effectiveness is uncertain. The experiences of South Korea and Japan could serve as a reference for other countries.