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.
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