Western lifestyle leads to rise in breast cancer rates

TIANJIN - Breast cancer has become the most lethal form of the disease among Chinese women, with city dwellers being hit harder than those in the countryside, medical experts said.

In the past 30 years, the period covered by China's large and rapid urbanization, the incidence of breast cancer increased about 6 percent annually, which was higher than the global average of 4 percent, said Zhang Jin, deputy director of the breast cancer center at Tianjin Cancer Institute and Hospital.

"Breast cancer has now become the most prevalent cancer among Chinese women, replacing lung cancer, and that's in line with the international trend," Zhang said at a media event on the weekend to mark the hospital's 150th anniversary and October Breast Cancer Awareness Month.