One in every 180 Taiwanese women screened last year was found to have breast cancer, and one out of every 76 checked was detected with either precancerous cervical lesions or cervical cancer, the Health Promotion Administration said yesterday, two days ahead of Women’s Day, urging women to have regular check-ups.
Nearly 10,000 Taiwanese women are found with precancerous lesions of the breast or cervix every year. While the incidence and mortality rates for cervical cancer are declining, the incidence of breast cancer surged in the 10 years from 2001 to 2010, from 40.6 to 63.2 in every 10,000 women, the agency’s Cancer Control and Prevention Division chief Wu Chien-yuan (吳建遠) said.
“The death rate from breast cancer has increased only by a small percentage during the same period, indicating the effectiveness mammography promotion has had,” she added.
“Early detection is the key to high survival rates,” Wu said. “Women with breast cancer or cervical cancer at stage 0 have a 97 percent five-year survival rate, with a rate of about 90 percent for stage one and two breast cancer, and 84 percent and 62 percent respectively for cervical malignancy.”
“The yearly pap smear for women aged 30 and above is subsidized by the agency, which also financially supported the mammogram test for women aged from 45 to 69,” she said.
Chang King-jen (張金堅), president of the Taiwan Breast Cancer Foundation and superintendent of Cheng Ching Hospital in Taichung, said that the risk factors for breast cancer include hormone-related early menstruation and late menopause, giving birth to the first child after the age of 35, or never giving birth.
“A family history of breast cancer is also associated with higher risk,” he said.
Lifestyle risk factors include a lack of physical activity, poor diet high in saturated fat and alcohol and tobacco consumption, he added.
Risk factors for cervical cancer are human papilloma virus infection, early engagement in sexual activity, first full-term pregnancy at a young age and smoking, he said.
Wu said that a lot of women failed to undertake the tests out of mistaken beliefs, such as that they are healthy enough to bypass the routine check-ups or that menopause meant they were not susceptible to those cancers.
“Some said that mammograms hurt. However, five seconds of discomfort could ensure the health of your breasts,” she said.
POLAM KOPITIAM CASE: Of the two people still in hospital, one has undergone a liver transplant and is improving, while the other is being evaluated for a liver transplant A fourth person has died from bongkrek acid poisoning linked to the Polam Kopitiam (寶林茶室) restaurant in Taipei’s Far Eastern Sogo Xinyi A13 Department Store, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said yesterday, as two other people remain seriously ill in hospital. The first death was reported on March 24. The man had been 39 years old and had eaten at the restaurant on March 22. As more cases of suspected food poisoning involving people who had eaten at the restaurant were reported by hospitals on March 26, the ministry and the Taipei Department of Health launched an investigation. The Food and
The long-awaited Taichung aquarium is expected to open next year after more than a decade of development. The building in Cingshui District (清水) is to feature a large ocean aquarium on the first floor, coral display area on the second floor, a jellyfish tank and Dajia River (大甲溪) basin display on the third, a river estuary display and restaurant on the fourth, and a cafe and garden on the fifth. As it is near Wuci Fishing Port (梧棲漁港), many are expecting the opening of the aquarium to bring more tourism to the harbor. Speaking at the city council on Monday, Taichung City Councilor
A fourth person has died in a food poisoning outbreak linked to the Xinyi (信義) branch of Malaysian restaurant chain Polam Kopitiam (寶林茶室) in Taipei, Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang (王必勝) said on Monday. It was the second fatality in three days, after another was announced on Saturday. The 40-year-old woman experienced multiple organ failure in the early hours on Monday, and the family decided not to undergo emergency resuscitation, Wang said. She initially showed signs of improvement after seeking medical treatment for nausea, vomiting and diarrhea, but her condition worsened due to an infection, he said. Two others who
Taiwanese should be mindful when visiting China, as Beijing in July is likely to tighten the implementation of policies on national security following the introduction of two regulations, a researcher said on Saturday. China on Friday unveiled the regulations governing the law enforcement and judicial activities of national security agencies. They would help crack down on “illegal” and “criminal” activities that Beijing considers to be endangering national security, according to reports by China’s state media. The definition of what constitutes a national security threat in China is vague, Taiwan Thinktank researcher Wu Se-chih (吳瑟致) said. The two procedural regulations are to provide Chinese