Colorectal cancer most common type diagnosed in 2006: report

The figures mean that on average, a new cancer patient was being diagnosed in the country every 7 minutes, 10 seconds in 2006, up slightly from the average of 7 minutes, 38 seconds in 2005, when 68,907 new cases were recorded, according to Chao Kun-yu, deputy chief of the DOH's Bureau of Health Promotion.

The report showed that for the first time, colorectal cancer replaced liver cancer as the most common type among new cases recorded in a single year.

Compared with 2005, the number of new colorectal cancer cases rose by 644 to 10,248 in 2006, and liver cancer or intrahepatic bile duct cancer was found among 10,092 people -- a jump of 176 cases.

Chao attributed the increased prevalence of colorectal cancer among Taiwanese to increasingly unhealthy dietary habits, such as high consumption of red meat and fat and low fiber intake.

Although people between ages 50 and 69 are advised to have fecal occult blood tests every two years to help early diagnosis of colorectal cancer, DOH statistics indicate that only 11 percent of that age group received the tests in 2008 or 2007, he said.

The third highest number of new cases in 2006 were cancers of the lung, trachea or bronchus, totalling 8,748, followed by breast cancer among women, 6,895 cases; and cancer of the mouth, oropharynx or hypopharynx, 5,352 cases, according to the report.

Rounding out the list of top 10 most common types of cancer in 2006 were stomach cancer, with 3,794 new cases; prostate cancer, with 3,073 new cases; skin cancer, with 2,457 new cases; cervical cancer, with 1,828 new cases; and uterine cancer, with 1,159 new cases.

In terms of age-adjusted incidence rate, an average 50 per 100,000 women were diagnosed with breast cancer in 2006; 37.44 per 100,000 people were diagnosed with cancer of the liver or intrahepatic bile duct cancer; and 37.35 per 100,000 people were found to have colorectal cancer.

The report revealed that in Taiwan, the risk of cancer among men was 1.4 times higher than among women.

Because of an almost exclusively male habit of chewing betel nuts, the age-adjusted incidence rates of esophageal cancer and oral cancer among men were 15.6 times to 10.4 times higher than among women in 2006, the report stated.

However, women were found to develop cancer at an earlier age than men, with the median age at diagnosis being 59 among women and 65 among men.

During the 2002-2006 period, the incidence of cancer among men increased by 3.9 percent, with the largest increase seen in cases of oral and esophageal cancer, according to the report.

Among women, the incidence of cancer rose by 4.7 percent during the same period, with the highest increase recorded in cases of uterine cancer and breast cancer, while the incidence of cervical cancer dropped the most.

According to Chao, the rise in the incidence of breast cancer among Taiwanese women is related to dietary habits of high fat and high calorie intake, growth of the overweight and obese population, drop in the age of menstruation onset, fewer childbirths, and family history.

The government provides free mammography screening once every two years to women aged 50-69, but only 12 percent of those eligible used the service in 2008 or 2007, he said.

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