Organising Chairman Vivien Lee (seated front, middle) with the speaker Prof Dr Ho Gwo Fuang (second left), other guests and the participants at the talk.
KOTA KINABALU: The Kota Kinabalu Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) Branch held a talk on cancer awareness at Citadines Waterfront Kota Kinabalu yesterday, drawing an audience of approximately 100 people.
The event featured an interactive session with Sabahan clinical oncologist Prof Dr Ho Gwo Fuang, who answered questions from an engaged audience.
Api-Api Assemblywoman Datuk Christina Liew, who is also the Branch Chief, highlighted that cancer remains one of the leading causes of death globally.
Citing statistics from the International Agency for Research on Cancer, she noted that an estimated 19.3 million new cancer cases and 10 million cancer-related deaths were recorded worldwide in 2020, with incidence rates continuing to rise.
“In Malaysia, the recently released National Cancer Registry Report (2017-2021) showed an increase in cancer incidence compared to the 2012-2016 period,” she said.
Liew explained that the most common cancers among men were colorectal, lung, prostate, liver, lymphoma, nasopharynx, leukemia, non-melanoma skin cancer, stomach and pancreatic cancers. Among women, the top cancers were breast, colorectal, lung, endometrial (womb cancer), ovarian, cervical, lymphoma, thyroid, leukemia and liver cancers.
In Sabah, Liew said the Sabah Cancer Registry showed 8,818 new cancer cases were reported between 2012 and 2016. The age-standardised incidence rates were 94.8 per 100,000 males and 111.1 per 100,000 females.
“Kota Kinabalu recorded the highest number of cases, followed by Sandakan and Tawau. Among men, colorectal cancer was the most common, followed by lung and prostate cancers. For women, the leading cancers were breast, cervical, and colorectal cancers,” she said.
Liew expressed concern over the late detection of cancer cases in the state, with 66.6 per cent of patients—both male and female—only being diagnosed at Stage III or IV.
