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As a metropolis with rapid social and economic development over the past three decades, Shanghai has a breast cancer incidence that surpasses all other cancer registries in China. In order to estimate the regular changing patterns of female breast cancer in urban Shanghai, population-based incidence data from 1975 to 2004 were studied. In addition, a one-hospital-based in-patient database of 7,443 female breast cancer patients treated surgically between January-1990 and July-2007 were reviewed, retrospectively. We observed that breast cancer incidence increased dramatically over the past 30 years and documented a peak incidence represented by the middle-age group (45-59 years), which emerged in the last 20 years. The incidence peak moved from the 40-44 year group in the previous two decades to the 50-54 year group in the most recent decade. Median age at diagnosis was earlier in Shanghai than in the western countries, although it increased from 47.5-year in 1990 to 50-year in 2007. Considerably higher exposure to reproductive risk factors and relatively fewer hormone-dependent cases were observed. The proportion of asymptomatic cases detected by screening gradually increased, as well as that of early-stage cases (from 78.6% in 1990 to 93.3% in 2007) and carcinoma in situ (14.7% in 2007). Analysis of surgical treatment patterns suggested a trend of less-invasive options. Both age of peak incidence and median age at diagnosis increase with time, which suggests that increased incidence trending along with increasing age, will be observed in the future. Consequently, specific screening protocol should be refined to consider birth cohorts.

Asia is the world's largest continent comprising about 3/5 of the human population. Breast cancer is the most common type of cancer and the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths among women in Asia, accounting for 39% of all breast cancers diagnosed worldwide. The incidence of breast cancer in Asia varies widely across the continent and is still lower than in Western countries, but the proportional contribution of Asia to the global breast cancer rates is increasing rapidly in parallel to the socioeconomic development. However, the mortality-to-incidence ratios are much higher for Asia than for Western countries. Most Asian countries are low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) where breast cancer presents at a younger age and a later stage, and where patients are more likely to die from the disease than those in Western countries. Moreover, diagnostic workup, treatment and palliative services are inadequate in most Asian LMICs. In this review, we present an overview of the breast cancer risk factors and epidemiology, control measures, and cancer care among Asian countries.

SummaryBackgroundThe age-specific association between blood pressure and vascular disease has been studied mostly in high-income countries, and before the widespread use of brain imaging for diagnosis of the main stroke types (ischaemic stroke and intracerebral haemorrhage). We aimed to investigate this relationship among adults in China.Methods512 891 adults (59% women) aged 30–79 years were recruited into a prospective study from ten areas of China between June 25, 2004, and July 15, 2008. Participants attended assessment centres where they were interviewed about demographic and lifestyle characteristics, and their blood pressure, height, and weight were measured. Incident disease was identified through linkage to local mortality records, chronic disease registries, and claims to the national health insurance system. We used Cox regression analysis to produce adjusted hazard ratios (HRs) relating systolic blood pressure to disease incidence. HRs were corrected for regression dilution to estimate associations with long-term average (usual) systolic blood pressure.FindingsDuring a median follow-up of 9 years (IQR 8–10), there were 88 105 incident vascular and non-vascular chronic disease events (about 90% of strokes events were diagnosed using brain imaging). At ages 40–79 years (mean age at event 64 years [SD 9]), usual systolic blood pressure was continuously and positively associated with incident major vascular disease throughout the range 120–180 mm Hg: each 10 mm Hg higher usual systolic blood pressure was associated with an approximately 30% higher risk of ischaemic heart disease (HR 1·31 [95% CI 1·28–1·34]) and ischaemic stroke (1·30 [1·29–1·31]), but the association with intracerebral haemorrhage was about twice as steep (1·68 [1·65–1·71]). HRs for vascular disease were twice as steep at ages 40–49 years than at ages 70–79 years. Usual systolic blood pressure was also positively associated with incident chronic kidney disease (1·40 [1·35–1·44]) and diabetes (1·14 [1·12–1·15]). About half of all vascular deaths in China were attributable to elevated blood pressure (ie, systolic blood pressure >120 mm Hg), accounting for approximately 1 million deaths (<80 years of age) annually.InterpretationAmong adults in China, systolic blood pressure was continuously related to major vascular disease with no evidence of a threshold down to 120 mm Hg. Unlike previous studies in high-income countries, blood pressure was more strongly associated with intracerebral haemorrhage than with ischaemic stroke. Even small reductions in mean blood pressure at a population level could be expected to have a major impact on vascular morbidity and mortality.FundingUK Wellcome Trust, UK Medical Research Council, British Heart Foundation, Cancer Research UK, Kadoorie Charitable Foundation, Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology, and the National Science Foundation of China.

The value of platinum-based adjuvant chemotherapy in patients with triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) remains controversial, as does whether BRCA1 and BRCA2 (BRCA1/2) germline variants are associated with platinum treatment sensitivity. OBJECTIVE To compare 6 cycles of paclitaxel plus carboplatin (PCb) with a standard-dose regimen of 3 cycles of cyclophosphamide, epirubicin, and fluorouracil followed by 3 cycles of docetaxel (CEF-T). DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS This phase 3 randomized clinical trial was conducted at 9 cancer centers and hospitals in China. Between July 1, 2011, and April 30, 2016, women aged 18 to 70 years with operable TNBC after definitive surgery (having pathologically confirmed regional node-positive disease or node-negative disease with tumor diameter >10 mm) were screened and enrolled. Exclusion criteria included having metastatic or locally advanced disease, having non-TNBC, or receiving preoperative anticancer therapy. Data were analyzed from December 1, 2019, to January 31, 2020, from the intent-to-treat population as prespecified in the protocol. INTERVENTIONS Participants were randomized to receive PCb (paclitaxel 80 mg/m 2 and carboplatin [area under the curve = 2] on days 1, 8, and 15 every 28 days for 6 cycles) or CEF-T (cyclophosphamide 500 mg/m 2 , epirubicin 100 mg/m 2 , and fluorouracil 500 mg/m 2 every 3 weeks for 3 cycles followed by docetaxel 100 mg/m 2 every 3 weeks for 3 cycles). MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES The primary end point was disease-free survival (DFS). Secondary end points included overall survival, distant DFS, relapse-free survival, DFS in patients with germline variants in BRCA1/2 or homologous recombination repair (HRR)-related genes, and toxicity. RESULTS A total of 647 patients (mean [SD] age, 51 [44-57] years) with operable TNBC were randomized to receive CEF-T (n = 322) or PCb (n = 325). At a median follow-up of 62 months, DFS time was longer in those assigned to PCb compared with CEF-T (5-year DFS, 86.5% vs 80.3%, hazard ratio [HR] = 0.65; 95% CI, 0.44-0.96; P = .03). Similar outcomes were observed for distant DFS and relapse-free survival. There was no statistically significant difference in overall survival between the groups (HR = 0.71; 95% CI, 0.42-1.22, P = .22). In the exploratory and hypothesis-generating subgroup analyses of PCb vs CEF-T, the HR for DFS was 0.44 (95% CI, 0.15-1.31; P = .14) in patients with the BRCA1/2 variant and 0.39 (95% CI, 0.15-0.99; P = .04) in those with the HRR variant. Safety data were consistent with the known safety profiles of relevant drugs. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE These findings suggest that a paclitaxel-plus-carboplatin regimen is an effective alternative adjuvant chemotherapy choice for patients with operable TNBC. In the era of molecular classification, subsets of TNBC sensitive to PCb should be further investigated.

Rationale: Little evidence from large-scale cohort studies exists about the relationship of solid fuel use with hospitalization and mortality from major respiratory diseases. Objectives: To examine the associations of solid fuel use and risks of acute and chronic respiratory diseases. Methods: A cohort study of 277,838 Chinese never-smokers with no prior major chronic diseases at baseline. During 9 years of follow-up, 19,823 first hospitalization episodes or deaths from major respiratory diseases, including 10,553 chronic lower respiratory disease (CLRD), 4,398 chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and 7,324 acute lower respiratory infection (ALRI), were recorded. Cox regression yielded adjusted hazard ratios (HRs) for disease risks associated with self-reported primary cooking fuel use. Measurements and Main Results: Overall, 91% of participants reported regular cooking, with 52% using solid fuels. Compared with clean fuel users, solid fuel users had an adjusted HR of 1.36 (95% confidence interval, 1.32–1.40) for major respiratory diseases, whereas those who switched from solid to clean fuels had a weaker HR (1.14, 1.10–1.17). The HRs were higher in wood (1.37, 1.33–1.41) than coal users (1.22, 1.15–1.29) and in those with prolonged use (≥40 yr, 1.54, 1.48–1.60; <20 yr, 1.32, 1.26–1.39), but lower among those who used ventilated than nonventilated cookstoves (1.22, 1.19–1.25 vs. 1.29, 1.24–1.35). For CLRD, COPD, and ALRI, the HRs associated with solid fuel use were 1.47 (1.41–1.52), 1.10 (1.03–1.18), and 1.16 (1.09–1.23), respectively. Conclusions: Among Chinese adults, solid fuel use for cooking was associated with higher risks of major respiratory disease admissions and death, and switching to clean fuels or use of ventilated cookstoves had lower risk than not switching.