Rising cases of breast cancer prompt call for checks

"Generally speaking, if a tumor can be detected by palpation, it means the tumor is already in an advanced stage."

Clinically, early detection of breast cancer can be done through imaging technologies rather than palpation because self-examination has many limitations and uncertainties, experts say.

"Breast cancer has less obvious symptoms, and patients often become less vigilant and delay diagnosis and treatment," Guo says.

In the field of imaging examination, the combination of ultrasound and X-ray is currently the main tool for effective breast cancer screening.

In 2013, GE Healthcare China released a study indicating that the country has recorded a surge in breast cancer cases. It shows a 20 to 30 percent increase in breast cancer over recent decades in middle-aged women in China's urban areas, although this could be due in part to better diagnosis.

Currently, breast cancer is the most common cancer among Chinese women. More than 160,000 cases are detected each year and the incidence is rising at between 3 and 4 percent annually. And most cases are found in big cities, such as Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen.

Sources from Shanghai Center for Disease Control and Prevention showed that more than 4,000 out of about 25,000 new cancer cases among Shanghai women are breast cancer. And one in every six female cancer cases in Shanghai is a breast cancer patient.

About 65 percent of women showed abnormal indicators in their breast checkups, such as cysts and lumps, according to a report after a review of about 260,000 adult female samples from the Ikang Guobin Healthcare Group, one of China's biggest healthcare companies.