Eating a bowl of richly flavored hot soup might be a tempting way to deal with cold weather, but doctors yesterday said that doing so could also put one on the fast track to esophageal cancer.
Digestive Endoscopy Society of Taiwan director-general Wang Hsiu-po (王秀伯) said long-term consumption of hot soup is listed as one of the four main risk factors for esophageal cancer, along with smoking, drinking and betel-nut chewing.
“According to the latest incidence statistics for the most common cancers in Taiwanese men, the incidence rate for esophageal cancer increased by 42 percent between 2002 and 2012, more than two times the overall average increase during the same period,” Wang said.
Wang urged middle-aged men with the above habits to pay particular heed to suspicious symptoms, as the average age of death due to esophageal cancer is 58, which means most sufferers are still in their prime working age and may be the sole breadwinner of their families.
Esophageal cancer symptoms include difficulty swallowing and weight loss.
Mackay Memorial Hospital Taitung Branch’s Division of Gastroenterology director Bair Ming-jong (白明忠) said nearly 30 percent of patients with head and neck cancers also develop esophageal cancer, because tobacco, alcohol and betel nuts are shared risk factors.
“These three dangerous substances could cause the esophagus to inflame, while boiling soup or beverages could further impair the damaged food pipe and put it on a path to developing cancer,” Bair said.
Bair said Taitung County has the nation’s highest rate of betel-nut use at 21.1 percent, twice the national average, which could be the reason why many of his patients were diagnosed with esophagus cancer years after they had developed oral cancer and liver cirrhosis.
Only 8.8 percent of esophagus cancer cases are detected in the early stages, Bair said, urging people in the high-risk group to undergo routine screening tests, as they could help increase the cancer survival rate by nearly twofold.
Additional reporting by staff reporter
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