Taipei City Hospital yesterday said that it would continue to expand its endometrial cancer screening capacity after a city councilor called for action, citing the death this year of former DPP Taipei city councilor Hsu Chia-pei (許家蓓), who had endometrial cancer.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Taipei City Councilor Yen Juo-fang (顏若芳) said in a document calling on the Taipei Health Department to make plans to improve screening for endometrial cancer that Hsu was diagnosed with the disease in May and died last month.
Public awareness about cervical cancer prevention has improved in the past few years, as the central government since 1995 has provided free pap smears for women aged 30 or older, while the Health Promotion Administration pushes to increase HPV vaccination rates, leading to fewer cases and lower mortality rates, Yen said.
Photo coutesy of Taipei City Hospital Women And Children Campus
However, uterine cancer cases have been increasing, with Taiwan’s cancer registry report showing that new cases rose from 1,757 in 2012 to 3,205 in 2021, she said.
Among them, endometrial cancer cases — which account for about 90 percent of new uterine cancer cases each year — increased from 1,663 in 2012 to 3,000 in 2021, or up about 80 percent in a decade, she said.
In Taipei alone, cases rose from 257 in 2012 to 384 in 2021, an uptick of 49 percent, she said, adding that it is likely the yearly cases of uterine cancer would soon exceed those of cervical cancer.
Many factors affect the risk of developing endometrial cancer, including having had endometrial hyperplasia, taking substances that affect hormone levels, and obesity, Yen said.
In 2021 endometrial cancer was for the first time among the 10 most common causes of female cancer deaths, she said.
Citing the rise in case numbers, she asked the health department and Taipei City Hospital to expand endometrial cancer screening capacity, as well as conduct studies to verify whether the new 3D ultrasonography methods are reliable and accurate for screening endometrial cancer.
Taipei City Hospital said that its Renai Branch and Heping Fuyou Branch have specialized endometrial cancer outpatient clinics, and with the support and supervision of the health department, the hospital is conducting research on endometrial cancer screening methods, with the results to be shared with the medical field.
The hospital accepts the city councilor’s suggestion to increase 3D ultrasonography capacity and personnel trained to operate the equipment to expand screening capacity, it said.
Additional reporting by CNA
A former member of the US Naval Special Warfare Development Group (DEVGRU), formerly known as SEAL Team 6, said in an interview with Business Insider that the elite unit’s role in a Taiwan Strait conflict would be more limited than some might expect. The report follows an earlier one in September by the Financial Times, which said the “clandestine US Navy commando unit” has been training for missions to help Taiwan if it is invaded by China. “You don’t use a scalpel for a job a hammer can do,” the former Navy Seal said to Business Insider on condition of anonymity.
HACKERS’ MARKET: Chat logs about Taiwan and documents outlining ways to take over online accounts were leaked from a company that sells data from hacks Taiwanese cybersecurity specialists found 577 leaked documents which show that the Chinese Communist Party is engaging in “cognitive warfare” against Taiwan through cyberattacks and disinformation campaigns, a documentary released last month by Japanese public broadcaster NHK showed. The filmmakers behind Tracking China’s Leaked Documents said they spent six months visiting seven countries, including Taiwan, where they interviewed members of TeamT5, a malware research and cybersecurity firm, which found the leaked documents. TeamT5 said they discovered a string of mysterious URLs on the social media platform X, which they suspected could be accounts created by hackers or people who leaked data, which led
RESOURCE RICH: Taiwan is located in the Pacific Ring of Fire and has up to 30 gigawatts of the potential energy, of which 10 gigawatts could be economically viable Academia Sinica and CPC Corp yesterday began drilling the nation’s first deep geothermal well in Yilan County’s Yuanshan Township (員山). The 4km-deep well is expected to take 18 months to complete and has an estimated investment of NT$337 million (US$10.54 million), Academia Sinica President James Liao (廖俊智) said. “While Taiwan has up to 30 gigawatts of potential deep geothermal energy, with an estimated 10 gigawatts being economically viable, only by digging wells can we determine the actual amount of commercially viable geothermal energy,” Liao said at the project’s opening ceremony. Data collected during and after the excavation process would be used for future
Rain is to increase from Wednesday morning as Severe Tropical Storm Kong-Rey approaches, with sea warnings to be issued as early as tomorrow afternoon, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said today. As of 8am, Kong-Rey was 1,050km east-southeast of the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春) heading in a northwesterly direction toward Taiwan, CWA Forecast Center Director Lin Po-tung (林伯東) said. Rainfall is to increase from Wednesday morning, especially in northern Taiwan and Yilan County, he said. A sea warning is possible from tomorrow afternoon, while a land warning may be issued on Wednesday morning, he added. Kong-Rey may intensify into a moderate typhoon as it passes