About 80 percent of liver cancer patients in China would like to see a wider range of treatments included in the reimbursement lists of basic medical insurance programs, according to a survey of 300 family members of liver cancer patients nationwide.More than half of those surveyed said the patients are most in need of drugs that can effectively relieve pain and prolong life, according to the online survey, which was conducted by Life Times, a health newspaper in Beijing, in February and March.The results were published last month.Most of the patients covered by the survey were age 50 or older, and 55 percent said they were already in the late or terminal stages of liver cancer when they were diagnosed.More than half of the patients said they only sought medical advice after experiencing a period of physical discomfort, and only 10 percent were diagnosed during regular physical checkups.About 3 percent had been misdiagnosed once.Nearly 70 percent said they did not pay enough attention to warning signs and symptoms during the early stages of the disease.Nearly 60 percent of those surveyed said their lives had been disrupted by having a family member with liver cancer, and they were unable to obtain adequate rest.More than 40 percent of the relatives spent all of their time after work caring for the patient.More than 51 percent said they had experienced heavy financial pressure as a result of high treatment costs, while just 4.7 percent said they had experienced very little pressure.Wu Jianxiong, director of the hepatobiliary department at the Cancer Hospital of the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, said China has one of the highest incidences of liver cancer in the world, accounting for more than half of all new cases globally every year.A major reason for the increased incidence of the disease in China is the high number of patients with hepatitis B and C, which are both prone to develop into cancer.Liver cancer is difficult to detect in the early stages, which results in many patients missing the opportunity for effective treatment, he said.Wu suggested that people at higher risk, such as those with hepatitis B and other liver conditions, should have regular checkups.He added that good dietary habits and a healthy lifestyle can help to prevent the disease from developing. rubber bracelet makercustom rubber wristbandsfabric festival wristbandsblack rubber wristbandspersonalized rubber braceletsballer bands24hourwristbands
Pakistani patient Tahseen Dilbar poses for a photo with a medical staff member at Shanghai General Hospital on Thursday. [Photo provided to China Daily] Foreigner receives treatment to help him generate his own blood cells A patient from Pakistan has become the first foreigner to receive umbilical cord blood in China as part of a hematopoietic stem cell transplant to restore his ability to produce his own healthy blood cells. Tahseen Dilbar received an umbilical cord blood transfusion from Shanghai Cord Blood Bank under China Stem Cell Group, the only licensed umbilical cord blood bank in the city. More than 3,200 Chinese people received the treatment ahead of him. The 30-year-old Dilbar, a father of three, is recovering at Shanghai General Hospital in Shanghai's Songjiang district, where he received the transplant on Wednesday and Thursday. Umbilical cord blood was injected into his body along with half-matched stem cells donated by his elder brother. Half-matched hematopoietic stem cell transplants usually invite strong rejection from the recipient's body, said Wang Chun, director of the hospital's hematology department. The addition of matched umbilical cord blood can effectively reduced the chance of rejection. Dilbar is expected to regain his ability to produce healthy blood cells in two weeks and fully recover in around two months, the doctor added. Pakistani patient Tahseen Dilbar receives treatment at Shanghai General Hospital on Thursday. He is the first foreigner to use umbilical cord blood in a hematopoietic stem cell transplant in China. [Photo provided to China Daily] Dilbar was diagnosed in 2010 with myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS), a group of disorders characterized by bone marrow's inability to grow enough healthy blood cells. Over the past eight years, he had relied on blood transfusions to survive, but his condition has continued to worsen. By the end of last year, he had developed a high risk of developing acute myeloid leukemia, which usually features the rapid growth of abnormal cells that build up in the bone marrow and blood and interfere with normal blood cells. As acute leukemia, AML progresses rapidly and is typically fatal within weeks or months if left untreated. Stem cell transplantation is regarded as the most effective treatment for MDS. But Dilbar failed to find a full match among his three brothers and sisters. One elder brother's hematopoietic stem cells showed only a half-match, according to Dilbar's wife, Jasmin Tahira, who accompanied her husband to Shanghai for the transplant. While Pakistan can perform transplants using completely matched hematopoietic stem cells, it is not up to handling half-matched ones, Tahira said. Doctors in Pakistan suggested reaching out for treatment in China, where Wang and his team are known as pioneers in the transplant of half-matched hematopoietic stem cells. The addition of matched umbilical cord blood is an essential part of such transplants, Wang said. Upon Dilbar's arrival at the hospital in March, Wang filed an application for a match with the China Marrow Donor Program, as well as with seven umbilical cord blood hematopoietic stem cell banks across the nation. He later heard from the Shanghai branch that a match had been found. We feel very satisfied with the treatment and the doctors are very good, Tahira said. The family will stay for another two months in China before Dilbar's expected full recovery.
