About 20,000 people with cancer per year would benefit from more advanced next generation sequencing (NGS) covered by the National Health Insurance (NHI) system, the National Health Research Institutes said on Tuesday.
Testing for cancer, which has long been the leading cause of death in the nation, now sees a significant advancement with the inclusion in the NHI system since May 1 of NGS for 19 types of cancer, the institute said at a news conference.
The NHI-covered NGS assesses cancers including lung, colorectal, pancreatic cancers and leukemia, and aids in the selection of appropriate treatment or the assessment for bone marrow transplant suitability, the National Health Insurance Administration (NHIA) said.
Photo: CNA
NGS breaks down DNA samples, and then links them back together at the computer-end to conduct analysis, National Taiwan University Cancer Center superintendent James Yang (楊志新) said.
“After approximately 400 to 1,000 sequencing cycles, we compare it with normal DNA to determine which parts of the tumor DNA have variations,” Yang said.
“With these variations, we can identify which type of cancer it [the tumor] belongs to,” Yang said.
As NGS is included in NHI coverage, physicians can make more comprehensive clinical decisions, which would significantly improve treatment outcomes and reduce ineffective medication use, Yang added.
NHIA Director-General Shih Chung-liang (石崇良) said two types of data would be collected from the sequencing, one is data directly applicable for clinical purposes by physicians, and the other is raw data stored in National Biobank Consortium of Taiwan for research on drug development and testing methods.
Each individual covered by NHI is entitled to undergo NGS once per cancer type, according to the NHIA’s regulations.
CAUTION: Based on intelligence from the nation’s security agencies, MOFA has cautioned Taiwanese travelers about heightened safety risks in China-friendly countries The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday urged Taiwanese to be aware of their safety when traveling abroad, especially in countries that are friendly to China. China in June last year issued 22 guidelines that allow its courts to try in absentia and sentence to death so-called “diehard” Taiwanese independence activists, even though Chinese courts have no jurisdiction in Taiwan. Late last month, a senior Chinese official gave closed-door instructions to state security units to implement the guidelines in countries friendly to China, a government memo and a senior Taiwan security official said, based on information gathered by Taiwan’s intelligence agency. The
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, said yesterday that it is looking to hire 8,000 people this year, at a time when the tech giant is expanding production capacity to maintain its lead over competitors. To attract talent, TSMC would launch a large-scale recruitment campaign on campuses across Taiwan, where a newly recruited engineer with a master’s degree could expect to receive an average salary of NT$2.2 million (US$60,912), which is much higher than the 2023 national average of NT$709,000 for those in the same category, according to government statistics. TSMC, which accounted for more than 60 percent
The National Immigration Agency (NIA) said yesterday that it will revoke the dependent-based residence permit of a Chinese social media influencer who reportedly “openly advocated for [China’s] unification through military force” with Taiwan. The Chinese national, identified by her surname Liu (劉), will have her residence permit revoked in accordance with Article 14 of the “Measures for the permission of family- based residence, long-term residence and settlement of people from the Mainland Area in the Taiwan Area,” the NIA said in a news release. The agency explained it received reports that Liu made “unifying Taiwan through military force” statements on her online
Tung Tzu-hsien (童子賢), a Taiwanese businessman and deputy convener of the nation’s National Climate Change Committee, said yesterday that “electrical power is national power” and nuclear energy is “very important to Taiwan.” Tung made the remarks, suggesting that his views do not align with the country’s current official policy of phasing out nuclear energy, at a forum organized by the Taiwan People’s Party titled “Challenges and Prospects of Taiwan’s AI Industry and Energy Policy.” “Taiwan is currently pursuing industries with high added- value and is developing vigorously, and this all requires electricity,” said the chairman
RSS