PETALING JAYA: Colorectal cancer recorded the highest cancer incidence among men, followed by lung cancer and prostate cancer, according to the third edition of the National Cancer Registry Report 2017-2021.
It also revealed that among women, breast cancer had the highest incidence, followed by colorectal cancer and lung cancer.
"From 2017 to 2021, the 10 most commonly diagnosed types of cancer among Malaysians ranked by proportion were breast cancer, colorectal cancer, lung cancer, lymphoma, liver cancer, prostate cancer, leukaemia, nasopharyngeal cancer, uterine corpus cancer and ovarian cancer.
"A positive trend in cervical cancer incidence in Malaysia is observed consistently decreasing from 7.6 per 100,000 women in 2007-2011 to 6.2 per 100,000 women in 2012-2016, and further down to 6.0 per 100,000 women in 2017-2021.
"The percentage of cancer cases detected at Stages 3 and 4 increased to 65.1% in 2017-2021 from 63.7% in 2012-2016," read the report.
It also found that cancer is now the third most common cause of death in the country, accounting to some 15,200 cases in 2022, up from fourth position in 2021.
In a statement on Friday (July 19), the Health Ministry said cancer should not be taken lightly as it has ascended to the third most common cause of death in 2022 with some 15,200 cases, up from fourth position in 2021.
"Malaysia witnessed a notable increase in cancer cases reported from 2017 to 2021, partly due to the implementation of the new notification system and circular directive," read the statement.
It said that with cancer continuing to rise as a chronic disease and the second leading cause of death globally with 9.7 million cases in 2022, updated cancer data in Malaysia is crucial for steering, planning, and implementing more effective measures for cancer prevention, control and treatment.
"To achieve this goal, the Malaysia National Cancer Registry (MNCR) was established in 2007, initially relying on manual reporting.
"From 2007 to 2018, two editions of five-year reports were published to illustrate the cancer burden in Malaysia.
"In 2018, the introduction of online cancer case reporting through the Malaysian Health Data Warehouse website streamlined data collection processes.
Additionally, a circular in 2020 mandated online cancer notifications, leading to a substantial increase in the reported cases to the MNCR.
"Following these developments, the National Cancer Registry at the National Cancer Institute has successfully published the five-year report titled "Summary of the Malaysia National Cancer Registry Report 2017-2021" in ebook format.
"This report provides a comprehensive review of the cancer burden highlighting trends in cancer incidence in Malaysia, built upon the earlier "Summary of the Malaysia
National Cancer Registry Report 2012-2016", it said.
