The Big " C "

Taipei, June 9 (CNA) Breast cancer was the disease for which the highest number of insurance claims were made to Fubon Life Insurance Co. (富邦人壽) in 2015 in terms of the number of cases, the life insurer said Thursday.

Citing its data, Fubon Life, the flagship insurance entity of Fubon Financial Holding Co. (富邦金), said that the number of breast cancer insurance claims has been on the rise in recent years, with the figure rising about 10 percent year-on-year in 2015.

Lung cancer came in second, with the number of claims for 2015 up 14 percent from a year earlier, Fubon Life said, adding that the number of cases filed by female lung cancer victims was up 16 percent from a year earlier.

Since Fubon Life is among the top two life insurers in Taiwan in terms of first-year premium income, the company's data could serve as a good reflection of the entire insurance claims in the country, analysts said.

The statistics echoed data released by the Ministry of Health and Welfare, which said cancer remained the top cause of death in Taiwan in 2014, with 46,094, or 28.3 percent, succumbing to malignant tumors.

The ministry said that lung cancer topped the cause of death among all cancers, followed by liver and colorectal cancer. Rounding out the top 10 cancer deaths were breast cancer, oral cancer, prostate cancer, gastric cancer, pancreatic cancer, esophageal cancer and cervical cancer.

Fubon Life said that people in Taiwan should take precautionary action by undergoing regular screenings in a bid to attack malignant tumors as soon as possible and raise the chances of survival.

The life insurer suggested that people here also should buy sufficient cancer insurance policies, which provide financial protection to cancer victims to offset the impact of massive medical expenses, including surgery and after-care.

In addition to cancer, the life insurer said, with society aging, the number of insurance claims for cataracts, to which the elderly are susceptible, has been on the rise, up 11 percent from a year earlier.