Dr Matin Mellor
KUCHING: The high incidence of nasopharyngeal cancer (NPC) cases among the Bidayuhs has continued to puzzle experts.
Based on a previous study by Dr Beena Devi and her colleagues at Sarawak General Hospital (SGH), it is reported that the risk for the Bidayuhs to contract NPC was 2.3-fold (for men) and 1.9-fold (for women) higher than the Sarawak average, and about 50 per cent higher than the data for Hong Kong.
This indicated that among other ethnic groups worldwide, the Bidayuhs had the highest risk of developing this cancer type.
Such alarming figure highlights an urgent need for relevant authorities to better understand why this type of cancer is so prevalent among the Bidayuhs.
The NPC is a rare type of head and neck cancer – it starts in the upper part of the throat, in an area called the ‘nasopharynx’, which is precariously placed at the base of the skull, above the roof of the mouth.
The nostrils open into the nasopharynx.
The president of Malaysian Oncological Society (MOS) Dr Matin Mellor, a Bidayuh from Kampung Sibuluh in Bau near here, could relate to the data – he had just lost a relative to NPC.
“Well, I do not have any explanation (to the high incidence of NPC cases among the Bidayuhs) – that’s why it’s very important to conduct research and have statistics in Sarawak for us to look further into and ask why the Bidayuhs record high number of NPC cases; a situation that we still don’t understand,” he told reporters here yesterday.
Dr Matin is also the chairman of the Annual Scientific Congress of MOS (Ascomos) 2017, currently taking place in the state capital.
Back on NPC, he also said high number of cases was also found among the Chinese from Southern Mainland China.
“Nevertheless, NPC is a curable cancer – if they’re detected early. In fact, it is the most curable of all cancer types, provided that it is treated at the early stage,” he stressed.
Overall, statistics in Malaysia have shown that the most common cancer detected in many Malaysians is breast cancer, which is also treatable if it is detected early.
Dr Matin, who is currently attached with Subang Jaya Medical Centre in Selangor, also pointed out cancer of the pancreas as being the most aggressive among all cancer types.