The mortality rate of hepatitis C-related liver cancer has been rising in Taiwan, particularly in the southern counties of Yunlin, Jiayi and Tainan, according to a study report released Saturday.
The report, prepared by eight medical centers around the country, analyzed more than 18,000 liver cancer cases recorded between 1981 and 2001, which found an upward trend in over liver cancer mortality.
As deaths from hepatitis B-related liver cancer didn’t increase during the period, the report said the surge could largely be attributed to rising mortality from hepatitis C-related liver cancer.
The report also found that the Yunlin-Jiayi-Tainan area was hardest hit by hepatitis C as the region’s liver cancer mortality was higher than the national average.
According to the report, about 40 percent to 50 percent of male liver cancer deaths in the region were hepatitis C patients, while the ratio among women in the three counties ranged between 60 percent and 80 percent.
Chen Chien-hung, a doctor at National Taiwan University Hospital’s department of internal medicine, said the high hepatitis C mortality in the Yunlin-Jiayi-Tainan region might be related to inappropriate medical treatment administered by unlicensed doctors there some 20 years. But he added that it’s just speculation that requires epidemiological surveys to verify.
