Zhang Wei, Qian Chao-Nan, Zeng Yi-Xin
Department of Pathology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX 77030, USA.
Chin J Cancer. 2014 Apr;33(4):173-5. doi: 10.5732/cjc.014.10034. Epub 2014 Mar 18.
Once considered a taboo topic or stigma, cancer is the number one public health enemy in the world. Once a product of an almost untouchable industry, tobacco is indisputably recognized as a major cause of cancer and a target for anticancer efforts. With the emergence of new economic powers in the world, especially in highly populated countries such as China, air pollution has rapidly emerged as a smoking gun for cancer and has become a hot topic for public health debate because of the complex political, economic, scientific, and technologic issues surrounding the air pollution problem. This editorial and the referred articles published in this special issue of the Chinese Journal of Cancer discuss these fundamental questions. Does air pollution cause a wide spectrum of cancers? Should air pollution be considered a necessary evil accompanying economic transformation in developing countries? Is an explosion of cancer incidence coming to China and how soon will it arrive? What must be done to prevent this possible human catastrophe? Finally, the approaches for air pollution control are also discussed.
癌症曾被视为一个禁忌话题或耻辱之事，如今却是全球头号公共卫生大敌。烟草产业曾经几乎是一个触碰不得的行业产物，如今却无可争议地被公认为癌症的主要成因以及抗癌行动的目标。随着世界上新经济强国的崛起，尤其是在中国这样人口众多的国家，空气污染迅速成为引发癌症的确凿证据，并且由于围绕空气污染问题的复杂政治、经济、科学和技术问题，它已成为公共卫生辩论的热门话题。本社论以及发表在《中国癌症杂志》本期特刊上的相关文章讨论了这些基本问题。空气污染会引发多种癌症吗？空气污染是否应被视为发展中国家经济转型过程中不可避免的弊端？中国是否即将迎来癌症发病率的激增，以及这一情况何时会出现？必须采取哪些措施来预防这场可能的人类灾难？最后，还讨论了空气污染控制的方法。
