Source: www.chinapost.com.tw/

Taiwan has reported the highest five-year survival rate for patients with oral cancer in the world, a hospital official said yesterday.

On average, more than 70 percent of the oral cancer patients treated at National Taiwan University Hospital (NTUH) live for more than five years after being diagnosed, said Ko Jeng-yuh, head of the hospital’s division of head and neck oncology.

Citing a survey carried out by the American Joint Committee on Cancer, Ko said the survival rate in the United States for such patients in late stages of the disease was lower than 30 percent in 2010.

The NTUH treated 1,288 patients with oral cancer between 2004 and 2009 and after complete treatment, more than 55 percent of the 476 stage-four patients lived for at least five more years, the hospital said.

Taiwan has the world’s highest number of patients suffering from oral cancer, as the majority of patients are middle-aged men who are also the bread winners for their families, said Lou Pei-jen, an NTUH doctor.