General Electric Healthcare Co, a leader in the high-end medical devices market, said it will partner with China's national cancer center and work on the research and treatment of breast cancer.

The two sides will cooperate on setting standards and guidelines for the early diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer. They will also cooperate in other areas, including the clinical application of innovative technologies, the training of doctors, volunteer treatments, and public education.

In the next five years, GE Healthcare plans to cooperate with the Chinese government, medical agencies, enterprises and public welfare organizations to promote safe and effective methods to screen breast cancer and raise the early detection rate and five-year survival rate, the company said.

Since 2006, GE Healthcare has been holding a series of public welfare events on the prevention and treatment of breast cancer, and it aims to help women office workers, who have a high-risk of getting breast cancer, to obtain safe and accurate screenings.

"In the past decade, our charity events have helped more people realize the threat of breast cancer and the significance of prevention. We need to make further efforts in the next five years," said Guan Daiying, chief marketing director of GE Healthcare in China.

This year, GE Healthcare said it would launch models for remote reading and diagnosis of ultrasonic inspection results, and help more women get advanced screenings and authoritative diagnoses.

Also, it will launch large-scale free diagnosis programs at public and private hospitals nationwide and provide services for around 5,000 individuals, in addition to organizing more public education events.

Last year, China had 260,000 new cases of breast cancer. The occurrence rate stands at the top among all kinds of female tumor diseases, according to China's national cancer center.

In the past 10 years, the mortality rate from breast cancer in China has increased significantly. During the same period, the US mortality rate from breast cancer decreased 2 percent annually on average, mainly because of standardized screening, early discovery and treatment.

In Beijing, only 5 percent of breast cancer cases were confirmed through early screening, according to the center. The nation lacks controls of screening quality, including tracking of equipment and operations. So, there is a need for more high-quality and effective screenings.

"The prevention and treatment of breast cancer has been the key part of cancer prevention and treatment in China," said Wang Lyuhua, vice-dean of the Cancer Hospital of the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences.

"It's highly necessary to promote standard, safe and effective methods of screening, and raise the levels of breast cancer prevention and treatment."

zhuwenqian@chinadaily.com.cn