Abstract: Objective  To examine whether early cancer diagnosis and treatment can help reduce the increasing incidence of cancer in cities，we evaluated the results of a survey in Changsha，China concerning the detection and treatment of common cancers of the lung，breast，colon，upper gastrointestinal tract and liver. Methods A survey of residents aged 40-69 years in five districts of Changsha was conducted in 2012-2013 to identify high-risk cancer populations，and individuals assessed to be at high risk of one or more cancers were screened using low-dose spiral CT，breast and liver ultrasound， mammary molybdenum target，or endoscopy as appropriate. Results The implementation of high-risk assessment included 50 000 people and the cancer screening included 10 136 person-time； this investment varied by target organ as follows: lung，3 220 person-time；liver，3 109 person-time；breast，2 057 person-time；esophagus and stomach，1 018 person-time；large intestine，732 person-time.Precancerosis was detected in 1 279 cases，and the positive rate was 12.62%. A total of 47 suspected cancer patients were screened，and the positive rate was 0.46%. Precancerosis and cancer showed different prevalences by tissue type：precancerous lung lesions were found in 902 individuals，and the positive rate was 28.01%；lung cancer was found in 15 cases，and the positive rate was 0.47%；precancerous liver lesions were found in 4 cases，and the positive rate was 0.13%；liver cancer was found in 9 cases，and the positive rate was 0.29%；precancerous large intestine lesions were found in 106 cases， and the positive rate was 14.48%；colorectal cancer was found in 5 cases，and the positive rate was 0.68%；precancerous upper gastrointestinal tract lesions were found in 23 cases，and the positive rate was 2.26%；upper gastrointestinal tract cancer was found in 2 cases，and the positive rate was 0.20%；precancerous breast lesions were found in 244 cases，and the positive rate was 11.86%； and breast cancer was found in 16 cases， and the positive rate was 0.78%. Conclusions Targeted efforts to screen for and diagnose cancer early in cities can be an effective way to increase the rate of early treatment， survival and quality of life.

Key words: Cancer, Epidemiology, Early Diagnosis and treatment, Screening