Cervical cancer increases among young Chinese women

More young Chinese women are contracting cervical cancer, with nearly a third of new cases now in women 35 and younger, a top specialist said.

Lang Jinghe, a member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and a gynecologist at Peking Union Medical College Hospital in Beijing, revealed the trend at an awareness-raising event on Thursday.

The percentage of women 35 and younger who get the disease was less than 5 percent in the 1980s, Lang said. Cervical cancer is more likely to be found in women 45 to 55 years old.