National Yang-Ming University and Taipei Veterans General Hospital yesterday announced that the National Cancer Institute, the US government’s lead agency for cancer research, has established a laboratory in Taiwan and is to begin a five-year collaborative research project focusing on lung cancer.
National Yang-Ming University vice president and Cancer Progression Research Center director Yang Muh-hwa (楊慕華) said lung cancer ranked No. 1 in the top 10 causes of cancer in Taiwan in 2016, claiming approximately 9,000 lives each year, and that it is also among the deadliest cancers in the US, making it a shared enemy of both nations.
While lung adenocarcinoma is the most common type of lung cancer in Taiwan and the US, there are differences in genetic mutations among patients in the two nations, he said, adding that a larger proportion of Taiwanese patients were found to have an epidermal growth factor receptor gene mutation.
Photo: CNA
Identification of the genetic mutations driving lung cancer is important for doctors to decide the cancer treatment strategy and targeted therapy, Yang said.
Nina Solarz, the wife of late US representative Stephen Solarz, who proposed bills in support of Taiwan and visited Taiwan several times, has established a memorial fund at the Foundation for the US National Institutes of Health in her husband’s memory to support cancer research, the university and hospital said.
The fund has supported the establishment of the new research laboratory in Taiwan, they said.
The five-year collaborative research project is to focus on the ethnic differences of the lung cancer genome and epigenetics in lung cancer diagnosis and therapy, as well as research on immunotherapy and stem cells.
Tropical depression TD22, which was over waters south of the Ryukyu Islands, is likely to develop into a tropical storm by this morning and pose a significant threat to Taiwan next week, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. The depression is likely to strengthen into a tropical storm named Krathon as it moves south and then veers north toward waters off Taiwan’s eastern coast, CWA forecaster Hsu Chung-yi (徐仲毅) said. Given the favorable environmental conditions for its development, TD22’s intensity would reach at least typhoon levels, Hsu said. As of 2pm yesterday, the tropical depression was about 610km east-southeast of Taiwan proper’s
RESTRICTIONS: All food items imported from the five prefectures must be accompanied by radiation and origin certificates, and undergo batch-by-batch inspection The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Wednesday announced that almost all produce from five Japanese prefectures affected by the 2011 Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant disaster would now be allowed into Taiwan. The five are Fukushima, Gunma, Chiba, Ibaraki and Tochigi. The only items that would still be blocked from being imported into the nation are those that are still banned from being circulated in Japan, the FDA added. With the removal of the ban, items including mushrooms, the meat of wild birds and other wild animals, and koshiabura” (foraged vegetables) would now be permitted to enter Taiwan, along with the other
A new tropical storm is expected to form by early tomorrow morning, potentially developing into a medium-strength typhoon that is to affect Taiwan through Wednesday next week, the Central Weather Administration said today. There are currently two tropical systems circulating to the east of Taiwan, agency forecaster Hsu Chung-yi (徐仲毅) said. The one currently north of Guam developed into Tropical Storm Gebi this afternoon and is expected to veer toward Japan without affecting Taiwan, Hsu said. Another tropical depression is 600km from the east coast and is likely to develp into the named storm Krathon either late tonight or early tomorrow, he said. This
Typhoon Krathon, a military airshow and rehearsals for Double Ten National Day celebrations might disrupt flights at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport in the first 10 days of next month, the airport’s operator said yesterday. Taoyuan International Airport Corp said in a statement that it has established a response center after the Central Weather Administration issued a sea warning for Krathon, and urged passengers to remain alert to the possibility of disruptions caused by the storm in the coming days. Flight schedules might also change while the air force conducts rehearsals and holds a final airshow for Double Ten National Day, it added. Although