A total of 73,293 new cancer cases were recorded in 2006, with the largest number being colorectal cancer, the Department of Health (DOH) said yesterday.
The figures mean that, on average, a new cancer patient was diagnosed every 438 seconds in 2006, up slightly from the average of 458 seconds in 2005, when 68,907 new cases were recorded, the department’s latest cancer incidence report showed.
“People are eating more fried food, canned food and oily food. This could be the main reason why colorectal cancer has become the most prevalent type of cancer,” said Chao Kun-yu (趙坤郁), DOH Bureau of Health Promotion deputy director-general. “The latest information we have is from 2006 because it takes time for hospitals to calculate the information.”
The latest statistics show that 10,248 people were diagnosed with colorectal cancer, compared with 10,092 people found to have liver cancer. There were 8,748 cases of lung cancer, 6,895 cases of breast cancer, 5,352 of oral cancer, 3,794 of gastric cancer, 3,073 of prostate cancer, 2,457 of skin cancer, 1,828 of cervical cancer and 1,159 with uterine cancer.
In 2005, 9,916 were diagnosed with liver cancer, while 9,604 people were found to have colorectal cancer.
The statistics also showed that a male’s chance of getting cancer was 1.4 times higher than a female’s. Of all male cancer patients aged between 25 and 44, 27 percent were diagnosed with oral cancer.
“There are still a lot of betel nut addicts out there and those aged between 25 and 44 are usually the group of males who eat the most betel nut, which also increases their risk of oral cancer,” Chao said.
Chao said that the figures for oral cancer would continue to increase over the next decade because of the popularity of betel nut.
He said the rise in the incidence of breast cancer among women is related to dietary habits of high fat and calorie intake, a growing number of overweight and obese people, a drop in the average age of the onset of menstruation and fewer childbirths.
Chao encouraged females between the ages of 50 and 69 to have a mammogram once every two years.
“It is a free service, but only 12 percent of those who qualify make use of it,” Chao said. “We may lower the target age to between 40 and 49 so we can help more women in the early stages.”
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