The number of people newly diagnosed with cancer edged higher in 2007, with colorectal cancer remaining the most common form of the disease, ahead of liver cancer, a Department of Health (DOH) report issued yesterday showed.
A total of 75,769 new cancer cases were recorded in 2007, 3.4 percent more than in 2006, said Chiou Shu-ti (邱淑媞), director-general of the Bureau of Health Promotion.
Those figures equate to a new cancer patient being diagnosed roughly every 7 minutes in 2007, slightly faster than every 7 minutes and 10 seconds in the previous year, when 73,293 new cases were recorded, Chiou said.
The 2007 statistics were the latest figures available because the DOH needs time to collect raw cancer data from local hospitals and then conduct cross-checks to make sure there was no double-counting of patients — if, for example, they have been to more than one hospital for diagnosis or misidentified.
Colorectal cancer remained the most diagnosed type of cancer in 2007 after overtaking liver cancer as the most common form of the disease in 2006.
Kung Hsien-lan (孔憲蘭), a section chief at the Cancer Control and Prevention Division, attributed the increased prevalence of colorectal cancer to increasingly unhealthy dietary habits, such as the high consumption of red meat and fat and low fiber intake.
After colorectal cancer and liver cancer, the next most frequently diagnosed forms of the disease in 2007 were lung cancer, breast cancer and oral cancer.
These five types accounted for 56 percent of all new cancer patients in 2007.
The risk of contracting cancer was 1.4 times higher among men than women, Chiou said.
Because of the higher number of males smoking or chewing betel nuts, the age-adjusted incidence rates of esophageal cancer and oral cancer among men were 12.7 times and 11.3 times higher respectively than among women in 2007, Chiou said.
Prostate cancer is also a major concern, he said, with 3,367 men diagnosed in 2007, adding that the figure might be too conservative given the unique nature of the disease.
“Unlike other types of cancer, prostate cancer grows very slowly,” he said. “Some might not even know they had prostate cancer before dying.”
Meanwhile, the incidence of breast cancer and thyroid gland cancer posted the largest increase among Taiwanese women, Kung said. Both diseases are related to imbalances in female sex hormones, she said.
High fat diets and high caloric intake, which could play havoc with female hormones, have raised the cancer risk profile of Taiwanese women, Kung said.
She said that Taiwanese women were found to develop breast cancer an average of 10 years earlier than their Western counterparts.
Chiou and Kung said the bureau would expand its free early cancer detection program by offering more free tests — mammography screening for breast cancer, Pap smear tests for cervical cancer, taking samples of a patient’s mucous membrane for oral cancer, and fecal occult blood tests for colorectal cancer.
Chiou estimated that the program would help detect an additional 10,000 new cancer cases this year, and those identified as having the disease would be given immediate medical attention.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY JIMMY CHUANG
FAST TRACK? Chinese spouses must renounce their Chinese citizenship and pledge allegiance to Taiwan to gain citizenship, some demonstrators said Opponents and supporters of a bill that would allow Chinese spouses to obtain Taiwanese citizenship in four years instead of six staged protests near the Legislative Yuan in Taipei yesterday morning. Those who oppose the bill proposed by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) demanded that Chinese spouses be granted citizenship only after renouncing their Chinese citizenship, passing a citizenship test and pledging allegiance to Taiwan. The demonstrators, who were protesting at a side entrance to the Legislative Yuan on Jinan Road, were mostly members of the Taiwan Association of University Professors and other organizations advocating Taiwanese independence. Supporters of the bill, led
SILENT MAJORITY: Only 1 percent of Chinese rejected all options but war to annex Taiwan, while one-third viewed war as unacceptable, a university study showed Many Chinese are more concerned with developments inside their country than with seeking unification with Taiwan, al-Jazeera reported on Friday. Although China claims Taiwan as its own territory and has vowed to annex it, by force if necessary, 23-year-old Chinese Shao Hongtian was quoted by al-Jazeera as saying that “hostilities are not the way to bring China and Taiwan together.” “I want unification to happen peacefully,” Shao said. Al-Jazeera said it changed Shao’s name to respect his wish for anonymity. If peaceful unification is not possible, Shao said he would prefer “things to remain as they are,” adding that many of his friends feel
Taiwan has “absolute air superiority” over China in its own airspace, Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) told a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee on Monday, amid concern over whether Taipei could defend itself against a military incursion by Beijing. Po made the remarks in response to a question from Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Chiu Chih-wei (邱志偉) on whether Taiwan would have partial or complete air superiority if Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) warplanes were to enter Taiwan’s airspace. Po, a retired pilot, said that the Taiwanese military has “absolute air superiority” over PLA
A shipment of basil pesto imported by Costco Wholesale Taiwan from the US in the middle of last month was intercepted at the border after testing positive for excessive pesticide residue, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday. Samples taken from a shipment of the Kirkland Signature brand of basil pesto imported by Costco contained 0.1 milligrams per kilogram of ethylene oxide, exceeding the non-detectable limit. Ethylene oxide is a carcinogenic substance that can be used as a pesticide. The 674kg shipment of basil pesto would either be destroyed or returned to its country of origin, as is the procedure for all