Taiwan recorded 73,293 new cancer cases in 2006, with the largest number being colorectal cases, according to the latest cancer incidence report released yesterday by the Department of Health=.
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.
In seeming contradiction to previous studies where findings supported the benign or beneficial effects of alcohol consumption, a current study by researchers at the University of Oxford in Great Britain has linked even minimal alcohol use and cancer in women. The type of alcohol consumed was irrelevant.
The so-called Million Women Study of middle-aged women in the United Kingdom found that low to moderate consumption of alcohol increased the risk of and might be responsible for 13 percent of breast, liver, rectal and certain digestive tract cancers.
While a colonoscopy is a very effective procedure for combating colorectal cancer, it may not be quite as good as previously thought, a new study suggests.
The procedure does a good job of detecting early signs of disease on the left side of the colon, or large intestine, but is not as effective at spotting potential problems of the right side of the organ. This means a colonoscopy’s success at preventing colorectal cancer deaths seems to lie with its ability to uncover so-called “left-sided” problems.
TORONTO (Reuters) – It might not be pleasant, but it could save your life. A new Canadian campaign advocating home screening for colorectal cancer could reduce deaths from the disease by catching it early, when it is often asymptomatic but also highly curable.
The Canadian province of Ontario has one of the world’s highest rates of colorectal cancer, according to the provincial health ministry, and it’s the second deadliest cancer in the province. The disease has a 90-percent cure rate when caught during its early stages but because the cancer is often asymptomatic until it is further progressed, it can be missed.
A fat hormone gene is linked to colon cancer, researchers find.
The finding provides part of the answer to a big question: What triggers colon cancer?
To get at this question, Boris Pasche, MD, PhD, and colleagues followed a trail of clues that implicates adiponectin, a hormone made only by fat cells.
Researchers have identified a new genetic player in the development of colon cancer.
The findings implicate CDK8, a protein that regulates gene expression in the proliferation of colorectal cancer, the researchers found.
Should the results be validated, they could lead to new therapeutic approaches for colon cancer, as well as new screening and chemopreventative strategies, said Dr. Durado Brooks, director of prostate and colorectal cancer at the American Cancer Society.
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Men who gain weight during adulthood – even those who are not considered to be overweight based on their body mass index – are at increased risk of colon cancer, according to data from the prospective Health Professionals Follow-Up Study.
Nearly one third of all colon cancers diagnosed over an 18-year period were attributed to a BMI greater than 22.5, Dr. Lau Caspar Thygesen and fellow researchers report in the International Journal of Cancer for September.
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Data from the Geneva Cancer Registry show an increased long-term risk of colon cancer in men who have undergone external radiation therapy for prostate cancer.
"The risk of second cancer after irradiation, although probably small, needs nevertheless to be carefully monitored," the study team advises.
Dr. Christine Bouchardy from the University of Geneva, Switzerland and colleagues analyzed data on 1,134 men diagnosed with prostate cancer between 1980 and 1998 who survived for at least 5 years after diagnosis. Of these, 264 were treated with external radiation.
