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New warning of link between betel nut, cancer

A Taichung Veterans General Hospital doctor said recently he believed that betel nut was the main cause of esophagus cancer.

“More than 80 of the 100 patients who underwent surgery for esophageal cancer at Taichung Veterans General Hospital last year chewed betel nut,” Hsu Chung-ping (徐中平), director of the hospital’s Division of General Thoracic Surgery, said on Thursday.

More young people — patients in their early 50s — are getting esophageal cancer than in the past, when the average age at which the cancer emerged was 70, Hsu said.

Department of Health (DOH) estimates showed that the average life of esophageal cancer patients is 16 years shorter.

“The survival rate of esophageal cancer patients was 54 percent at five years, while the rate was merely 20 percent if cancer cells have metastasized,” he said.

Three years ago, 1,000 new esophageal cancer patients were reported each year. That number has increased to 1,500 per year over the last three years, Hsu said, adding that on average 1,100 people die of esophageal cancer every year in Taiwan.

“Many people know that betel nuts may lead to oral cavity cancer, but they are not aware that betel nuts are also closely related to esophageal cancer,” Hsu said.

The DOH has designated areas where 26 to 65 out of every 100,000 people die of esophageal cancer “red alert areas.” These include Hualien, Taitung, Pingtung, Nantou, Changhua, Yunlin and Chiayi counties.


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