Taipei Veterans General Hospital yesterday announced the adoption of a new therapy to treat liver cancer after repeated successes with the treatment in trials last year.
Chief radiologist Lee Rheun-chuan (李潤川) said that 41 patients who had been diagnosed with terminal liver cancer had agreed to undergo the treatment last year. None had succumbed to the illness, Lee said.
Lee gave the example of a 65-year-old man who was dying of liver cancer. He had six tumors, all of which disappeared after six-months of therapy.
The treatment applies radiation from the yttrium 90 isotope, he said. Yttrium 90 enters the liver via a catheter. The effects of the localized radiation can be observed within two weeks.
“There is a 90 percent chance for a liver cancer patient to get his or her tumors under control or gradually eliminate them,” Lee told a press conference at the hospital yesterday.
While other radiation therapies for cancer kill tumors from outside the patient’s body, they also kill normal cells. Yttrium 90 therapy eliminates tumors more effectively, doctors said.
“This technology should bring new hope for liver cancer patients,” Lee said.
Because of potential side effects, however, Lee said yttrium 90 therapy would be used sparingly — only for liver cancer. Another drawback is that the therapy costs more than NT$600,000 and is not covered by National Health Insurance.
Lee said yttrium 90 was prohibited by the Department of Health except with special permission granted on a case-by-case basis.
Patients must be screened because the therapy may not be appropriate for certain cases, he said.
AGING: While Japan has 22 submarines, Taiwan only operates four, two of which were commissioned by the US in 1945 and 1946, and transferred to Taiwan in 1973 Taiwan would need at least 12 submarines to reach modern fleet capabilities, CSBC Corp, Taiwan chairman Chen Cheng-hung (陳政宏) said in an interview broadcast on Friday, citing a US assessment. CSBC is testing the nation’s first indigenous defense submarine, the Hai Kun (海鯤, Narwhal), which is scheduled to be delivered to the navy next month or in July. The Hai Kun has completed torpedo-firing tests and is scheduled to undergo overnight sea trials, Chen said on an SET TV military affairs program. Taiwan would require at least 12 submarines to establish a modern submarine force after assessing the nation’s operational environment and defense
Yangmingshan National Park authorities yesterday urged visitors to respect public spaces and obey the law after a couple was caught on a camera livestream having sex at the park’s Qingtiangang (擎天崗) earlier in the day. The Shilin Police Precinct in Taipei said it has identified a suspect and his vehicle registration number, and would summon him for questioning. The case would be handled in accordance with public indecency charges, it added. The couple entered the park at about 11pm on Thursday and began fooling around by 1am yesterday, the police said, adding that the two were unaware of the park’s all-day live
The coast guard today said that it had disrupted "illegal" operations by a Chinese research ship in waters close to the nation and driven it away, part of what Taipei sees a provocative pattern of China's stepped up maritime activities. The coast guard said that it on Thursday last week detected the Chinese ship Tongji (同濟號), which was commissioned only last year, 29 nautical miles (54km) southeast of the southern tip of Taiwan, although just outside restricted waters. The ship was observed lowering ropes into the water, suspected to be the deployment of scientific instruments for "illegal" survey operations, and the coast
A former soldier and an active-duty army officer were yesterday indicted for allegedly selling classified military training materials to a Chinese intelligence operative for a total of NT$79,440. The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office indicted Chen Tai-yin (陳泰尹) and Lee Chun-ta (李俊達) for contravening the National Security Act (國家安全法) and the Anti-Corruption Act (貪污治罪條例). Chen left the military in September 2013 after serving alongside then-staff sergeant Lee, now an army lieutenant, at the 21st Artillery Command of the army’s Sixth Corps from 2011 to 2013, according to the indictment. Chen met a Chinese intelligence operative identified as “Wang” (王) through a friend in November
RSS