"A radio program promoting screening tests for liver disease most likely saved the life of a 52-year-old man from New Taipei City, who took the test after listening to the program and discovered he had a malignant liver tumor, which was then successfully treated. “The man, named Chang Jung-feng (張榮豐), was born to a hepatitis B carrier father and learned that he was also a carrier at the age of 20,” New Taipei City Department of Public Health Commissioner Lin Chi-hung (林奇宏) said yesterday. Lin said Chang had been oblivious of his condition for decades until March last year, when he accidentally tuned in to a radio station that was airing a program hosted by National Taiwan University Hospital honorary professor Sheu Jin-chuan (許金川), who has dedicated his life to liver disease prevention. Sheu had been promoting a free blood-testing program launched by the Liver Disease Prevention and Treatment Research Foundation, which prompted Chang to get tested, Lin said. “Chang subsequently underwent an abdominal ultrasonography after his alpha-fetoprotein [AFP] level — which is considered a liver tumor indicator — was found to be abnormally high, at 780 nanograms per milliliter [ng/ml], compared with the normal level of less than 10ng/ml,” Lin said. The ultrasound found a malignant tumor measuring 2.6cm in Chang’s liver. Since the tumor was detected early, the 52-year-old is in recovery after being treated with radiofrequency ablation." - Jessie