The National Health Insurance Administration (NHIA) yesterday announced that, starting next month, it will cover stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT), a treatment that can significantly shorten the length of radiotherapy sessions for patients with early-stage lung cancer or non-metastasized liver tumors.
NHIA Medical Affairs Division official Chen Chen-hui (陳真慧) said SBRT is known for its ability to accurately locate tumors with the assistance of image guidance and breathing motion management, before delivering high doses of radiation with pinpoint accuracy.
“Conventional radiotherapy generally requires 30 radiation treatments that are conducted five times a week for approximately six weeks. However, as the SBRT dose is three to 15 times more than the dose delivered by traditional treatment, the patient is subjected to just six radiation treatments, which are carried out once a day at one to three-day intervals, taking less than two weeks to complete,” Chen said.
Chen said research has suggested that SBRT is more effective in treating early-stage lung and liver cancers that have not spread than linear accelerator teletherapy, which is currently covered by the NHIA.
The new policy, which covers the NT$210,000 (US$6,571) cost per six-session SBRT treatment, is applicable for people with a lung tumor smaller than 5cm whose Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status is 2 or lower.
The subsidy is also available to patients with a single liver tumor measuring less than 5cm that is inoperable or cannot be treated with arterial embolization and radio frequency ablation, whose ECOG performance status is 2 or lower, and who are classified as having mild or moderate hepatic impairment (Child-Pugh A-B).
Chen said the plan is expected to cost the NHIA NT$28 million and benefit about 300 patients per year.
Meanwhile, Health Promotion Administration Director-General Chiou Shu-ti (邱淑媞) yesterday reiterated the effectiveness of regular fecal occult blood testing in detecting colorectal cancer in its early stages, one day after the mother of Taiwanese-Japanese singer Makiyo died of the cancer at the age of 64.
“Research has established a link between regular fecal occult blood testing and a dramatic decrease in colorectal cancer death rates by up to 30 percent. The test is effective, non-invasive, painless and does not require any dietary restrictions before sample collection,” Chiou said.
Citing the latest statistics, Chiou said of the 1.2 million people who received the screening test last year, 32,000 were found to have developed colon polyps and more than 2,000 were diagnosed with colorectal cancer.
As colorectal cancer tends to be asymptomatic in the early stages, it has often reached the end stage by the time sufferers notice any unusual changes, such as bloody feces and changes in the size or shape of stools, Chiou said.
There are 77 incidents of Taiwanese travelers going missing in China between January last year and last month, the Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) said. More than 40 remain unreachable, SEF Secretary-General Luo Wen-jia (羅文嘉) said on Friday. Most of the reachable people in the more than 30 other incidents were allegedly involved in fraud, while some had disappeared for personal reasons, Luo said. One of these people is Kuo Yu-hsuan (郭宇軒), a 22-year-old Taiwanese man from Kaohsiung who went missing while visiting China in August. China’s Taiwan Affairs Office last month said in a news statement that he was under investigation
‘JOINT SWORD’: Whatever President Lai says in his Double Ten speech, China would use it as a pretext to launch ‘punishment’ drills for his ‘separatist’ views, an official said China is likely to launch military drills this week near Taiwan, using President William Lai’s (賴清德) upcoming national day speech as a pretext to pressure the nation to accept its sovereignty claims, Taiwanese officials said. China in May launched “punishment” drills around Taiwan shortly after Lai’s inauguration, in what Beijing said was a response to “separatist acts,” sending heavily armed warplanes and staging mock attacks as state media denounced newly inaugurated Lai. The May drills were dubbed “Joint Sword — 2024A” and drew concerns from capitals, including Washington. Lai is to deliver a key speech on Thursday in front of the Presidential Office
An aviation jacket patch showing a Formosan black bear punching Winnie the Pooh has become popular overseas, including at an aviation festival held by the Japan Air Self-Defense Force at the Ashiya Airbase yesterday. The patch was designed last year by Taiwanese designer Hsu Fu-yu (徐福佑), who said that it was inspired by Taiwan’s countermeasures against frequent Chinese military aircraft incursions. The badge shows a Formosan black bear holding a Republic of China flag as it punches Winnie the Pooh — a reference to Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) — who is dressed in red and is holding a honey pot with
Celebrations marking Double Ten National Day are to begin in Taipei today before culminating in a fireworks display in Yunlin County on the night of Thursday next week. To start the celebrations, a concert is to be held at the Taipei Dome at 4pm today, featuring a lineup of award-winning singers, including Jody Chiang (江蕙), Samingad (紀曉君) and Huang Fei (黃妃), Taipei tourism bureau official Chueh Yu-ling (闕玉玲) told a news conference yesterday. School choirs, including the Pqwasan na Taoshan Choir and Hngzyang na Matui & Nahuy Children’s Choir, and the Ministry of National Defense Symphony Orchestra, flag presentation unit and choirs,
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