Cancer is getting increasingly common and will continue to be a major public health problem in Hong Kong. At present, about one in four persons in Hong Kong will develop cancer during their lifetime. At the time of publication, more than 18 million people worldwide are diagnosed with cancer and over 9 million people die from cancer each year.

While the incidence of cancer has been increasing, most cases of cancer are in fact preventable through changing our way of life, such as quitting smoking, modifying our diet, increasing the amount of exercise we take and maintaining a healthy body weight.

This publication provides information and recommendations on possible screening methods and early detection as well as prevention of common cancers in Hong Kong. It is by no means exhaustive but is intended to be a quick reference for health professionals. Due to limited space, references are not included. Given the rapid advancement of researches in various aspects of cancer prevention and screening, it is also important for us to keep in view the results from various on-going studies so as to update our knowledge and recommendations.

We are most grateful to our oncology colleagues who have shared with us their expertise in the preparation of this booklet.

We sincerely hope that health professionals will find this booklet useful. Let us join hands in fighting the battle against cancer – a disease which causes suffering for many and generates fear among even more.