Surgeon criticises cancer records

유명 성형외과 의사인 Swee Tan 교수가

뉴질랜드에서 흑색종 외 피부암 발생률이 작년에 비해 4%나 증가했다며 정부의 세밀한 관심을 촉구했습니다.

Tan 교수는 당국이 흑색종 외 피부암(NMSC)과 관련한 자료를 모으는데 소홀하다고 비판했는데,

이에 대해 보건부는 흑색종 외 피부암을 소수암으로 분류하기 때문이라고 답했다.

흑색종은 피부암 중 가장 치명적인 종으로 분류되 관심을 갖고 있지만 다른 종류의 피부암도 인체에 매우 치명적일 수 있습니다.

암학회는 한 해에 67,000건의 NMSC 발병 사례와 100개의 사망건이 있었을 것으로 추정하고 있다. 흑색종의 경우 2008년에는 2200건의 발병 사례가 있었으며  317명이 이로 인해 사망하였다. NMSC를 치료하는데 드는 예산은 연 NZ$ 5000만을 초과할 것으로 보인다고 합니다. 

Tan 교수는 “당국의 자료 부족으로 인해 효과적인 대책과 처방을 마련하지 못했다”며 “뉴질랜드는 흑색종 외 피부암 발생률이 세계에서 가장 높은 수준이며, 발병사례가 지속적으로 늘어나고 있는 만큼 국가적 차원에서의 건강 관리 공급 모델이 필요하다”고 밝혔네요.

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A leading plastic surgeon is calling for better management of non-melanoma skin cancers, after finding the annual incidence is rising by more than 4 per cent in central New Zealand.

Professor Swee Tan, supported by the Cancer Society, is critical of the lack of attention given to gathering data on non-melanoma skin cancers, but the Health Ministry's response is that they are usually minor cancers.

Melanoma is the most deadly type of skin cancer, but the other types cause many more cases and can also be fatal.

Comprehensive records are not kept of non-melanoma skin cancer. The Cancer Registry abandoned mandatory reporting of basal cell carcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma - the two main types - in 1958 because of incomplete reporting and lack of resources to manage the large number of cases.

The Cancer Society estimates there are around 67,000 new cases of non-melanoma skin cancer (NMSC) a year and 100 deaths. In 2008, about 2200 cases of melanoma and 317 deaths were recorded by the registry. The cost of treating NMSC is estimated to exceed $50 million a year.

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Professor Tan, of Hutt Hospital in Wellington, said: "The lack of data in New Zealand has prevented effective service planning and delivery.

"New Zealand has one of the highest rates of non-melanoma skin cancer in the world and its increasing incidence underscores the importance of developing and implementing a national health-care delivery model ..."

Professor Tan and colleagues have published, in the Australia-New Zealand Journal of Surgery, a review based on non-melanoma skin cancer pathology records from 1997 to 2007 in the lower North Island. It indicates a 4.1 per cent per year increase in incidence.

The Cancer Society's health promotion manager, Jan Pearson, said, "It is imperative that non-melanoma skin cancers are registered in a comprehensive manner, including staging at diagnosis, treatment and outcome."

Dr John Childs, head of the Health Ministry's cancer programme, said the ministry was "aware of the concerns around the volume of of non-melanoma skin cancer in New Zealand, due to the ageing population and increased sun exposure".

"Many of these are minor cancers which can be easily managed by GPs or in outpatient minor-surgical clinics."

기사링크사이트 : http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10753409

The numbers

* 67,000 - new cases of non-melanoma skin cancer a year in New Zealand.
* 100 - deaths a year.
* 4.1pc - annual increase in cases between 1997 and 2007.