A health official yesterday urged women to take advantage of free mammograms to screen for breast cancer, saying that the five-year survival rate if the disease is detected early is nearly 100 percent.
In nearly all cases, breast cancer detected at the first stage is treatable, but when it reaches stage 4, the five-year survival rate goes down to 36.2 percent, Health Promotion Administration (HPA) Director-General Wu Chao-chun (吳昭軍) said.
Mammography can detect calcifications or tiny tumors in breasts, and is an internationally proven and effective screening tool, Wu said.
Photo: CNA
Domestic studies show that mammography can reduce the incidence of advanced breast cancer by 30 percent and reduce the mortality rate by 41 percent, he said.
In 2020 alone 15,259 new cases of breast cancer were reported in Taiwan, meaning that 42 people in the country develop breast cancer each day on average, HPA Cancer Prevention and Control Division Director Lin Li-ju (林莉茹) said.
In 2021, 2,913 people in the country died from breast cancer, or nearly eight people per day on average, Lin said, adding that 60.8 percent of breast cancer cases detected through screening in Taiwan are early-stage cases.
A 57-year-old woman surnamed Ma (馬) had early-stage breast cancer detected in a mammogram four years ago, Lin said.
Ma told her that she has regular screenings due to a family history of cancer and felt lucky to have detected her cancer early, Lin said.
Ma urged other women to also get regular screenings, Lin added.
Breast Cancer Society of Taiwan secretary-general Tseng Ling-ming (曾令民) said that a healthy lifestyle could help prevent cancer.
People should not smoke or drink alcohol, and should have a balanced diet and exercise regularly, Tseng said.
People aged 45 to 70, as well as those with a family history of breast cancer, can be screened for free every two years, he said.
An undersea cable to Penghu County has been severed, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said today, with a Chinese-funded ship suspected of being responsible. It comes just a month after a Chinese ship was suspected of severing an undersea cable north of Keelung Harbor. The National Communications and Cyber Security Center received a report at 3:03am today from Chunghwa Telecom that the No. 3 cable from Taiwan to Penghu was severed 14.7km off the coast of Tainan, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said. The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) upon receiving a report from Chunghwa Telecom began to monitor the Togolese-flagged Hong Tai (宏泰)
EVA Air is prohibiting the use of portable chargers on board all flights starting from Saturday, while China Airlines is advising passengers not to use them, following the lead of South Korean airlines. Current regulations prohibit portable chargers and lithium batteries from check-in luggage and require them to be properly packed in carry-on baggage, EVA Air said. To improve onboard safety, portable chargers and spare lithium batteries would be prohibited from use on all fights starting on Saturday, it said. Passengers are advised to fully charge electronic devices before boarding and use the AC and USB charging outlets at their seat, it said. South
WAR SIMULATION: The developers of the board game ‘2045’ consulted experts and analysts, and made maps based on real-life Chinese People’s Liberation Army exercises To stop invading Chinese forces seizing Taiwan, board gamer Ruth Zhong chooses the nuclear option: Dropping an atomic bomb on Taipei to secure the nation’s freedom and her victory. The Taiwanese board game 2045 is a zero-sum contest of military strategy and individual self-interest that puts players on the front lines of a simulated Chinese attack. Their battlefield game tactics would determine the theoretical future of Taiwan, which in the real world faces the constant threat of a Chinese invasion. “The most interesting part of this game is that you have to make continuous decisions based on the evolving situation,
Actor Lee Wei (李威) was released on bail on Monday after being named as a suspect in the death of a woman whose body was found in the meeting place of a Buddhist group in Taipei’s Daan District (大安) last year, prosecutors said. Lee, 44, was released on NT$300,000 (US$9,148) bail, while his wife, surnamed Chien (簡), was released on NT$150,000 bail after both were summoned to give statements regarding the woman’s death. The home of Lee, who has retreated from the entertainment business in the past few years, was also searched by prosecutors and police earlier on Monday. Lee was questioned three
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