Lung cancer keeps its place as the top malignant tumor for men, while thyroid cancer takes the top rank among cancerous diseases for women in 2019.

This is according to a report released by the Shenzhen Hospital for Prevention and Treatment of Chronic Diseases to mark the first day of the 26th National Tumors Prevention Week that began Thursday.

In 2019, the city reported 27,963 new cases malignant tumors, 13,179 for males and 14,784 for females. Making up the top three cancers for males are lung cancer, colorectal cancer and liver cancer. For females, thyroid cancer is followed by breast cancer and lung cancer. This was the first time that thyroid cancer had overtaken breast cancer in overall numbers of patients.

Lin Lei, a medical expert with the hospital, suggested early screening and treatment through regular medical checks is the best way to detect the disease.

Shenzhen initiated a cancer screening program in 2017, targeting residents aged between 45 and 74, in an effort to increase survival rates while simultaneously reducing occurrences of cancerous diseases, mortalities and disabilities.

Statistics from the hospital showed that overall the program has assessed 37,877 residents and conducted clinical screening among 15,592 people. A total of 1,406 were tested positive and 33 were confirmed to have some sort of cancer.