A hereditary gene mutation increases a person’s risk of developing colorectal and other cancers, Veterans General Hospital colorectal surgeon Chang Shih-ching (張世慶) told a press conference yesterday.
“Through extensive investigation of a patient’s family medical history, it was found that a gene mutation in the family made them more susceptible to colorectal-related cancer,” Chang said.
Chang said a woman aged 31 who was diagnosed with colorectal cancer had recently undergone surgery to have the tumor removed. Because most colorectal cancer patients are in their 50s or older, the hospital looked for factors that may have contributed to the patient’s developing the cancer.
Chang looked into the woman’s family history and found that among 25 relatives, the patient’s grandmother and uncle were diagnosed with colorectal cancer at ages 75 and 42 respectively and her aunt with uterine cancer at age 50.
Chang said the discovery fit the profile of “Lynch syndrome,” in which more than three members of a family within two generations develop related cancers, with one of the patients developing cancer before the age of 50.
Through a DNA test, Chang found that members of the family had the “MLH1” gene mutation.
“When a cell is created in the body and there is something wrong with it, the MLH1 gene will automatically eliminate it — like an eraser. If this function fails, the person will be at a higher risk — at least 10 times higher — of getting cancer,” he said.
Chang said there were seven kinds of “erasers” in the body and the MLH1 gene was the toughest to deal with when it failed.
“I hope that my discovery will help establish a standard procedure so patients with Lynch syndrome and MLH1 problems will have something to go on.”
Chang said members of families with “Lynch syndrome” should visit a colorectal surgeons every two years after the age of 20.
For others, he recommended a colorectal exam once every three to five years after the age of 50, adding that the incidence of colorectal cancer was expected to increase because of diets with high oil intake.
Foreign tourists who purchase a seven-day Taiwan Pass are to get a second one free of charge as part of a government bid to boost tourism, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. A pair of Taiwan Passes is priced at NT$5,000 (US$156.44), an agency staff member said, adding that the passes can be used separately. The pass can be used in many of Taiwan’s major cities and to travel to several tourist resorts. It expires seven days after it is first used. The pass is a three-in-one package covering the high-speed rail system, mass rapid transport (MRT) services and the Taiwan Tourist Shuttle services,
Drinking a lot of water or milk would not help a person who has ingested terbufos, a toxic chemical that has been identified as the likely cause of three deaths, a health expert said yesterday. An 83-year-old woman surnamed Tseng (曾) and two others died this week after eating millet dumplings with snails that Tseng had made. Tseng died on Tuesday and others ate the leftovers when they went to her home to mourn her death that evening. Twelve people became ill after eating the dumplings following Tseng’s death. Their symptoms included vomiting and convulsions. Six were hospitalized, with two of them
DIVA-READY: The city’s deadline for the repairs is one day before pop star Jody Chiang is to perform at the Taipei Dome for the city’s Double Ten National Day celebrations The Taipei City Government has asked Farglory Group (遠雄集團) to repair serious water leaks in the Taipei Dome before Friday next week, Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) said yesterday, following complaints that many areas at the stadium were leaking during two baseball games over the weekend. The dome on Saturday and Sunday hosted two games in tribute to CTBC Brothers’ star Chou Szu-chi (周思齊) ahead of his retirement from the CPBL. The games each attracted about 40,000 people, filling the stadium to capacity. However, amid heavy rain, many people reported water leaking on some seats, at the entrance and exit areas, and the
BIG collection: The herbarium holds more than 560,000 specimens, from the Japanese colonial period to the present, including the Wulai azalea, which is now extinct in the wild The largest collection of plant specimens in Taiwan, the Taipei Botanical Garden’s herbarium, is celebrating its 100th anniversary with an exhibition that opened on Friday. The herbarium provides critical historical documents for botanists and is the first of its kind in Taiwan, Taiwan Forestry Research Institute director Tseng Yen-hsueh (曾彥學) said. It is housed in a two-story red brick building, which opened during 1924. At the time, it stored 30,000 plant specimens from almost 6,000 species, including Taiwanese plant samples collected by Tomitaro Makino, the “father of Japanese botany,” Tseng said. The herbarium collection has grown in the century since its