Ignorance compounds cancer threat

China's high mortality rate is the result of a lack of awareness that results in late detection of the disease, as Yang Wanli reports.

Zhang Chongpin from Northwest China's Gansu province had never considered having a medical checkup until he discovered fresh blood in his feces one Sunday morning in early March. Ten days later, the 43-year-old was diagnosed with colon cancer at a provincial-level hospital in Gansu.

"It's a huge blow to our family - our children are both still in high school," said Li Guiqin, Zhang's wife, who closed her small corner store in their home village so she would be able to travel to Beijing with her husband and help him obtain treatment at one of China's best cancer hospitals.