Two cancers have been rising sharply in Singapore: breast cancer in women and prostate cancer in men.
Over the past 40 years, the incidence of breast cancer here has more than doubled. Breast cancer is both the most common cancer, occurring in one in three women, and it is also the top killer. Over the same period, prostate cancer has gone up fivefold – from six to 30 per 100,000 men.
The latest cancer registry report released last month shows that 2,105 women died of breast cancer between 2011 and 2015, and more than half the women were diagnosed between the age of 45 and 64.
The good news is that 71 per cent were diagnosed in the early stages, giving them a high chance of survival. Those in stage 1 have a 91 per cent chance of surviving beyond five years, compared with 20 per cent for those discovered at stage 4.
According to the report, the increase in survival of breast cancer patients from the period 2006-2010 to 2011-2015 can be attributed to the improvements in treatment regimes, resulting in a fairly stable death toll for breast cancer.
Prostate cancer makes up one in seven cancers in men, and is now the third most common cancer. In the five years from 2011 to 2015, 4,053 were diagnosed with this cancer, and 795 died of it.
Dr Raymond Ng of the National Cancer Centre Singapore said the rise of breast and prostate cancers is “expected for a country that has become wealthier” as its people would be more sedentary and overweight, increasing their risk of cancers.
Overall, colorectal cancer remains the top cancer here, although the rates have been decreasing gradually over the past 15 years. However, more than half the 9,807 people diagnosed between 2011 and 2015 were in the late stage, with poorer chances of survival, hence the death of 3,906 people.
Dr Tan Ker Kan of the National University Cancer Institute Singapore is particularly concerned that one in five diagnosed with colorectal cancer was younger than 55 years old. He advised a need to raise awareness amongst younger adults to seek earlier medical help as it increases the chance of survival.
More than half the cancer deaths here comes from just four cancers: lung, breast, colorectal and liver. They accounted for 13,796 of the 26,661 cancer deaths between 2011 and 2015.
However, the report said that once age is taken into account, the rise of cancer cases is not significant. With Singapore’s ageing population, the number of cancer patients are likely to rise. On the upside, as medical technology improves, so will the number of cancer survivors.
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Source: The Straits Times, 21 June 2017