A shocking report has been released by the Department of Health, which shows that an individual is diagnosed with cancer in every 6.5 minutes, totaling to about 80,000 patients in 2008.

In Taiwan, the most common types of cancer are colorectal cancer, liver cancer, and lung cancer, respectively. Liver cancer ranks number one on the list for men, while women suffer mostly from breast cancer.

According to a recent Bureau of Health Promotion report, 79,818 people were diagnosed with cancer in 2008, which was 4,049 more than the previous year.

The most frequent new diagnoses during the year were uterine cancer, breast cancer, and prostate cancer.

The Bureau believes that the phenomenon can be attributed to obesity and westernized diets.

The top five types of cancer in 2008 were the same as 2007: colorectal, liver, lung, breast, and oral.

Men were most frequently diagnosed with liver cancer, while women were most frequently diagnosed with breast cancer.

One new cancer case was reported every 6:35 in 2008, compared to 6:56 in 2007.

Overall, one out of every eight cancer patients eventually succumbed to the disease.

Department of Health statistics also showed that one out of every six men will eventually die from cancer, compared to one out of every 11 women.

Both are higher rates than found in Singapore, the U.S., Japan, and Korea.

Based on data from the National Health Research Institutes, the Bureau is encouraging the public to exercise and avoid smoking, drinking, and chewing betel nut.