Source: The China Post
Author: Staff

TAIPEI — Taiwan’s rate of oral cancer — one of the island’s top 10 causes of death — has nearly quadrupled in the past 40 years, health experts warned recently, blaming among others the habit of chewing betel nut.

A study published by Dr. Liao Yung-po, associate professor of public health at Chung Shan Medical University, showed an increase of 280 percent in oral cancer deaths, with men four times as likely to die of the disease as women.

“The death toll for oral cancer in males has been increasing at such an alarming rate that relevant authorities must take note of this situation,” Liao said of his study report, citing statistics compiled by the Department of Health over the past four decades.

From 2001 to 2009, the death toll in males was 13.31 per annum for every 100,000 men, up from 3.08 per annum in the period 1971 to 1980, an increase of 330 percent.

The overall figures for women were lower, but showed a similar increase, reaching 3.08 per 100,000 women between 2001 and 2009, up from 1.18 in the earlier period, an increase of 160 percent.

According to Liao’s study, more than 95 percent of oral cavity cancers are squamous cell carcinoma, a type of cancer for which “the possible causes include betel nut chewing, cigarette smoking and alcohol consumption,” he said.

“Approximately 85 percent of the patients with oral cancer in Taiwan are regular users of betel nuts,” he added.