Cancer Res Treat.  2018 Apr;50(2):345-355. 10.4143/crt.2017.096.

The Clinical Utilization of Radiation Therapy in Korea between 2011 and 2015

• Seo YS
• Kim MS
• Kang JK
• Jang WI
• Kim HJ
• Cho CK
• Yoo HJ
• Paik EK
• Cha YJ
• Yoon JS

• KMID: 2411124
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.4143/crt.2017.096

Abstract

PURPOSE
The purpose of this study was to estimate the clinical utilization of radiation therapy (RT) in Korea between 2011 and 2015.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
We analyzed the claims data from the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service to estimate the clinical utilization of RT. The source population consisted of all patients who had any of the International Classification of Diseases 10th revision cancer diagnoses (C00-C97) and those with diagnostic codes D00-D48, who were also associated with at least one of the procedure codes related to RT.
RESULTS
The total number of patients who received RT in 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2015 were 54,810, 59,435, 61,839, 64,062, and 66,183, respectively. Among them, the total numbers of male and female patients were 24,946/29,864 in 2011, 27,211/32,224 in 2012, 28,111/33,728 in 2013, 29,312/34,750 in 2014, and 30,266/35,917 in 2015. The utilization rate of RT in cancer patients has also increased steadily over the same period from 25% to 30%. The five cancers that were most frequently treated with RT between 2011 and 2012 were breast, lung, colorectal, liver, and uterine cervical cancers. However, the fifth most common cancer treated with RT that replaced uterine cervical cancer in 2013 was prostate cancer. More than half of cancer patients (64%) were treated with RT in the capital area (Seoul, Gyeonggi, and Incheon).
CONCLUSION
The total number of patients who underwent RT increased steadily from 2011 to 2015 in Korea. The utilization rate of RT in cancer patients is also increasing.

Keyword

Neoplasms; Radiotherapy; Statistics; Korea

MeSH Terms

Breast
Diagnosis
Female
Gyeonggi-do
Humans
Insurance, Health
International Classification of Diseases
Korea*
Liver
Lung
Male
Prostatic Neoplasms
Radiotherapy
Uterine Cervical Neoplasms

Figure

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  Fig. 1. The total number of patients who underwent radiation therapy between 2011 and 2015 in Korea.

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  Fig. 2. The total numbers of male and female patients who received radiation therapy between 2011 and 2015 in Korea.

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  Fig. 3. Cancer incidence and the total number of patients who received radiation therapy between 2009 and 2013 in Korea.

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  Fig. 4. The fifth most common cancer treated with radiation therapy (RT) between 2011 and 2015 in Korea. (A) All patients. (B) Male patients. (C) Female patients.

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  Fig. 5. The utilization rate of radiation therapy (RT) in the 10 most common cancer between 2011 and 2014 in Korea. NHL, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

Reference

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