Oral cancer in Taiwan

To provide updated statistics of oral cancer incidence and mortality in Taiwan, and to describe recent developments for oral cancer control to reduce oral cancer incidence and mortality.

The Taiwan Cancer Registry Annual Report 2023, the Taiwan Cancer Registry Online Interactive Search System, and the 2023 Health Promotion Administration Annual Report are consulted and summarized. A literature search using PubMed was also conducted to identify Taiwan oral cancer control-related studies.

Taiwan, with a long history of areca/betel quid chewing, has battled with oral cancer for decades. In 2021, the male lip and oral cavity cancer incidence is 29.77 (per 100,000 persons) and mortality is 11.25. Over these years, the male chewing prevalence was reduced to 6.2% in 2018. Taiwan has a sustained national oral cancer screening programme provided to high-risk groups biennially.

Although the age-standardized incidence rates have been slowly decreasing since 2009, due to Taiwan's ageing population, the actual oral cancer burden is still stringent. The collaboration of multi-ministries and agencies on promoting areca nut and betel quid control, improving oral cancer awareness, and delivering cancer care remains essential to prevent oral cancer and reduce oral cancer deaths.