Over 100,000 new cancer patients diagnosed in Taiwan in 2014

The number of new cancer patients in Taiwan surpassed 100,000 for the first time in 2014, with one person diagnosed with cancer every 5 minutes and 6 seconds, according to the island's health agency on Thursday.

A total of 103,147 people were diagnosed with cancer on the island in 2014, an increase of about 4,000 cases from that in 2013.

Colon cancer remained the most common form of cancer in Taiwan for the ninth consecutive year, followed by lung, breast, liver, oral, prostate, gastric, skin, thyroid and esophageal cancers respectively, the agency said.

This was also the first time breast cancer patients outnumbered that of liver cancer, it added.

The agency attributed more newly-diagnosed cancer cases in 2014 to unhealthy lifestyles, an aging population and an increase in routine cancer checkups.

On average, the cancer incidence among men was 1.3 times that for women in Taiwan. The difference was especially high in oral and esophageal cancers, with the incidence rate for male being 10.9 times and 16 times that of female, respectively, mainly caused by unhealthy habits such as smoking, excessive drinking ands betel nut chewing, according to the agency. Endi