The Health Promotion Administration (HPA) yesterday said that 531 people were diagnosed with lung cancer in a government-funded screening program that began last year.
The Ministry of Health and Welfare on July 1 last year added lung cancer to the government-funded routine cancer screening program for adults, providing a free low-dose computed tomography (LDCT) scan every two years to high-risk individuals.
Eligibility covers men aged 50 to 74 and women aged 45 to 74 with a family history of lung cancer; and heavy smokers aged 50 to 74 who have been smoking for 30 pack-years (the average daily pack of cigarettes times years of smoking) and are willing to quit smoking or have quit less than 15 years earlier.
Photo: Chiu Chih-jou, Taipei Times
HPA Cancer Prevention and Control Division Director Lin Li-ju (林莉茹) said that 49,508 people received LDCT scans for lung cancer, resulting in 531 positive results, 85.1 percent of whom were detected at an early stage.
Of the 531 people, 396 have a family history of lung cancer, 118 are heavy smokers and 17 are heavy smokers with a family history of lung cancer, she said.
Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide, the HPA said.
The mortality rate of lung cancer in Taiwan was 21.8 deaths per 100,000 people last year, a decrease of 16.2 percent compared with 26 deaths per 100,000 people in 2011, but it is still the leading cause of cancer deaths in Taiwan, accounting for 19.4 percent of all cancer deaths last year, the agency said.
Taiwan Lung Cancer Society chairperson Yang Cheng-ta (楊政達) said the high mortality rate is mainly caused by the disease usually having no symptoms in the early stages.
By the time people develop symptoms such as chest pain, breathlessness and coughing up blood, the cancer has already progressed to advanced stages, Yang said.
The five-year survival rate of early stage lung cancer can be above 90 percent, but if it is diagnosed at stage 4, the survival rate can drop to 10 percent, he said.
More people with a family history of lung cancer were diagnosed at earlier stages than people who are heavy smokers, because those with a family history have seen their family members fight cancer and gained awareness of the disease, while many heavy smokers know the increased risk from smoking, but are less willing to face it, he added.
According to the Taiwan cancer registry in 2020, among every two new lung cancer cases, one was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer, and more than 60 percent of those were detected at an advanced stage, the HPA said.
HPA Director-General Wu Chao-chun (吳昭軍) said LDCT is the only internationally recognized screening tool for the early detection of lung cancer.
Eligible recipients should undergo testing as soon as possible to increase the chance of early detection and boost their survival rate, Wu said.
Minister of Health and Welfare Hsueh Jui-yuan (薛瑞元) said that about 500,000 people in Taiwan are eligible for LDCT screening, but only about 50,000 underwent testing over the past year.
He urged eligible recipients to make use of the government-funded screening test, saying that early detection of cancer greatly increases the chances for effective treatment and survival.
Early detection also presents a smaller financial burden than costlier treatments and a better quality of life, he added.
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