離開
進入《TAIPEI TIMES》Free cancer screenings detect 160 cases
The Health Promotion Administration hosts a news conference in Taipei yesterday. Photo: CNA
EARLY DIAGNOSIS: The Health Promotion Administration in July last year launched a program to screen heavy smokers and people with family history of lung cancer
By Wu Liang-yi and Kayleigh Madjar / Staff reporter, with staff writer
A free lung cancer screening program identified 160 cancer cases in the first six months of its operation, helping boost early detection, the Health Promotion Administration （HPA） said yesterday.
Cancer has been the leading cause of death in Taiwan for the past 40 years, Ministry of Health and Welfare data showed.
Lung cancer has been the most deadly type for the past 18 years and has been in the top two for the past 42 years, claiming 10,040 lives in 2021.
The second-most deadly type, colorectal cancer, claimed 7,970 lives in the same year.
That is equivalent to 22.2 people in every 100,000 dying from lung cancer and 17.9 people in 100,000 from colorectal cancer in 2021.
As there are few apparent early symptoms, lung cancer often goes undetected until the late stages.
The HPA introduced the free screening program for at-risk people on July 1 last year.
Recipients can receive a free low-dose computed tomography （LDCT） scan every two years to help detect lung cancer.
Eligible recipients include men aged 50 to 74 and women aged 45 to 74 with a family history of lung cancer, as well as heavy smokers aged 50 to 74.
Heavy smokers are defined as people who have smoked for at least 30 pack years, calculated by multiplying the number of packs smoked per day by the number of years as a smoker.
The HPA yesterday said that as of Dec. 26, 22,451 people were screened through the program.
Of the 160 cases detected, 86.3 percent were in the early stages （0 or 1）, it said.
The results show that LDCT is successful at detecting lung cancer early, which can have a significant effect on survivability, it added.
There is a large body of research on the connection between heavy smoking and lung cancer, but few countries provide screenings for the demographic, said Yang Pan-chyr （楊泮池）, an academician at Academia Sinica who specializes in lung cancer.
Among nonsmokers, domestic research shows family history to be the largest risk factor, he said.
“Taiwan is a world leader in this kind of important screening,” Yang said.
The LDCT scan only takes five minutes and is noninvasive, HPA Director-General Wu Chao-chun （吳昭軍） said.
When diagnosed early, patients not only have a better outlook, but can be spared from the pain and cost of treatment for late-stage lung cancer, Wu said.
The government also offers free screenings for colorectal, oral, cervical and breast cancers.
新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES
