Chonnam Med J.  2018 May;54(2):90-100. 10.4068/cmj.2018.54.2.90.

Updates on Cancer Epidemiology in Korea, 2018

• Kweon SS

• KMID: 2411892
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.4068/cmj.2018.54.2.90

Abstract

Cancer is a major cause of morbidity and the most common cause of death in Korea. There are currently approximately 200,000 incident cancer cases and 78,000 individuals die from cancer every year. The factors directly related to cancer incidence, including aging, smoking, obesity, and Westernized dietary habits, have been increasing during the past several decades. Since 1999, trends toward increased incidence have been observed for thyroid, breast (in women), colorectal, and prostate cancer. Currently, these trends have changed direction, and the incidence of stomach and liver cancer in both sexes, and cervical cancer in women have continually declined. Although the number of cancer deaths increased by a factor of 2.7 from 1983 to 2016, the age-standardized mortality associated with cancer has been decreasing by 3% every year. The 5-year relative survival rate (RSR) has also improved over the past several decades, especially for stomach, prostate, and breast cancer, which had 5-year RSRs greater than 90% in the most recent report.

Keyword

Neoplasms; Epidemiology; Republic of Korea

MeSH Terms

Aging
Breast
Breast Neoplasms
Cause of Death
Epidemiology*
Female
Food Habits
Humans
Incidence
Korea*
Liver Neoplasms
Mortality
Obesity
Prostate
Prostatic Neoplasms
Republic of Korea
Smoke
Smoking
Stomach
Survival Rate
Thyroid Gland
Uterine Cervical Neoplasms
Smoke

Figure

• 

  FIG. 1 Trends of age-standardized cancer incidence rate in Korea (1999–2015).

• 

  FIG. 2 5-year relative survival rates between 2011 and 2015 by primary sites.

Reference

1. Lim D, Ha M, Song I. Trends in the leading causes of death in Korea, 1983–2012. J Korean Med Sci. 2014; 29:1597–1603.

2. Jung KW, Won YJ, Kong HJ, Lee ES. Community of Population-Based Regional Cancer Registries. Cancer statistics in Korea: incidence, mortality, survival, and prevalence in 2015. Cancer Res Treat. 2018; 50:303–316.

3. Causes of death in Korea [Internet]. Statistics Korea;2018. Available from: http://www.kostat.go.kr/portal/korea/kor_nw/5/3/index.action.

4. Lee YH, Yoon SJ, Kim A, Seo H, Ko S. Health performance and challenges in Korea: a Review of the Global Burden of Disease Study 2013. J Korean Med Sci. 2016; 31:Suppl 2. S114–S120.

5. Ng M, Freeman MK, Fleming TD, Robinson M, Dwyer-Lindgren L, Thomson B, et al. Smoking prevalence and cigarette consumption in 187 countries, 1980–2012. JAMA. 2014; 311:183–192.

6. Choi S, Kim Y, Park S, Lee J, Oh K. Trends in cigarette smoking among adolescents and adults in South Korea. Epidemiol Health. 2014; 36:e2014023.

7. Shin HY, Kang HT. Recent trends in the prevalence of underweight, overweight, and obesity in Korean adults: The Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey from 1998 to 2014. J Epidemiol. 2017; 27:413–419.

8. Lim SH, Kwon JW, Kim N, Kim GH, Kang JM, Park MJ, et al. Prevalence and risk factors of Helicobacter pylori infection in Korea: nationwide multicenter study over 13 years. BMC Gastroenterol. 2013; 13:104.

9. Kim BK, Jang ES, Kim JH, Park SY, Ahn SV, Kim HJ, et al. Current status of and strategies for hepatitis C control in South Korea. Clin Mol Hepatol. 2017; 23:212–218.

10. Moon EK, Oh CM, Won YJ, Lee JK, Jung KW, Cho H, et al. Trends and age-period-cohort effects on the incidence and mortality rate of cervical cancer in Korea. Cancer Res Treat. 2017; 49:526–533.

11. Kim HJ, Kim HJ. Current status and future prospects for human papillomavirus vaccines. Arch Pharm Res. 2017; 40:1050–1063.

12. Kim HS, Lee YC, Lee HW, Yoo HM, Lee CG, Kim JM, et al. Seroepidemiologic study of Helicobacter pylori infection in Korea. Korean J Gastroenterol. 1999; 33:170–182.

13. Shin A, Park S, Shin HR, Park EH, Park SK, Oh JK, et al. Population attributable fraction of infection-related cancers in Korea. Ann Oncol. 2011; 22:1435–1442.

14. Parkin DM. The global health burden of infection-associated cancers in the year 2002. Int J Cancer. 2006; 118:3030–3044.

15. Schottenfeld D, Beebe-Dimmer J. The cancer burden attributable to biologic agents. Ann Epidemiol. 2015; 25:183–187.

16. GLOBOCAN 2012 v1.0, Cancer Incidence and Mortality Worldwide. IARC CancerBase No. 11 [Internet]. Lyon, France: International Agency for Research on Cancer;c2013. cited 2018 Apr 1. Available from: http://globocan.iarc.fr.

17. Dassen AE, Dikken JL, Bosscha K, Wouters MW, Cats A, van de Velde CJ, et al. Gastric cancer: decreasing incidence but stable survival in the Netherlands. Acta Oncol. 2014; 53:138–142.

18. Lee JY, Kim HY, Kim KH, Jang HJ, Kim JB, Lee JH, et al. No changing trends in incidence of gastric cardia cancer in Korea. J Korean Med Sci. 2003; 18:53–57.

19. Ferro A, Peleteiro B, Malvezzi M, Bosetti C, Bertuccio P, Levi F, et al. Worldwide trends in gastric cancer mortality (1980–2011), with predictions to 201, and incidence by subtype. Eur J Cancer. 2014; 50:1330–1344.

20. Eom BW, Jung KW, Won YJ, Yang H, Kim YW. Trends in gastric cancer incidence according to the clinicopathological characteristics in Korea, 1999–2014. Cancer Res Treat. 2018; DOI: 10.4143/crt.2017.464. [Epub ahead of print].

21. Information Committee of Korean Gastric Cancer Association. Korean gastric cancer association nationwide survey on gastric cancer in 2014. J Gastric Cancer. 2016; 16:131–140.

22. Jung KW, Won YJ, Oh CM, Kong HJ, Lee DH, Lee KH. Cancer Statistics in Korea: incidence, mortality, survival, and prevalence in 2014. Cancer Res Treat. 2017; 49:292–305.

23. Choi KS, Jun JK, Suh M, Park B, Noh DK, Song SH, et al. Effect of endoscopy screening on stage at gastric cancer diagnosis: results of the National Cancer Screening Programme in Korea. Br J Cancer. 2015; 112:608–612.

24. Jun JK, Choi KS, Lee HY, Suh M, Park B, Song SH, et al. Effectiveness of the Korean national cancer screening program in reducing gastric cancer mortality. Gastroenterology. 2017; 152:1319–1328.e7.

25. Allemani C, Matsuda T, Di Carlo V, Harewood R, Matz M, Nikšić M, et al. Global surveillance of trends in cancer survival 2000-14 (CONCORD-3): analysis of individual records for 37 513 025 patients diagnosed with one of 18 cancers from 322 population-based registries in 71 countries. Lancet. 2018; 391:1023–1075.

26. Lee HJ, Yang HK, Ahn YO. Gastric cancer in Korea. Gastric Cancer. 2002; 5:177–182.

27. Bae SE, Choi KD, Choe J, Kim SO, Na HK, Choi JY, et al. The effect of eradication of Helicobacter pylori on gastric cancer prevention in healthy asymptomatic populations. Helicobacter. 2018; 23:e12464.

28. Shin A, Kim KZ, Jung KW, Park S, Won YJ, Kim J, et al. Increasing trend of colorectal cancer incidence in Korea, 1999–2009. Cancer Res Treat. 2012; 44:219–226.

29. Siegel RL, Miller KD, Fedewa SA, Ahnen DJ, Meester RGS, Barzi A, et al. Colorectal cancer statistics, 2017. CA Cancer J Clin. 2017; 67:177–193.

30. Jung KW, Won YJ, Oh CM, Kong HJ, Lee DH, Lee KH. Prediction of cancer incidence and mortality in Korea, 2017. Cancer Res Treat. 2017; 49:306–312.

31. Sung JJ, Lau JY, Goh KL, Leung WK. Asia Pacific Working Group on Colorectal Cancer. Increasing incidence of colorectal cancer in Asia: implications for screening. Lancet Oncol. 2005; 6:871–876.

32. Giddings BH, Kwong SL, Parikh-Patel A, Bates JH, Snipes KP. Going against the tide: increasing incidence of colorectal cancer among Koreans, Filipinos, and South Asians in California, 1988–2007. Cancer Causes Control. 2012; 23:691–702.

33. Choi YJ, Lee DH, Han KD, Kim HS, Yoon H, Shin CM, et al. The relationship between drinking alcohol and esophageal, gastric or colorectal cancer: A nationwide population-based cohort study of South Korea. PLoS One. 2017; 12:e0185778.

34. Kim J, Oh SW, Kim YS, Kwon H, Joh HK, Lee JE, et al. Association between dietary fat intake and colorectal adenoma in Korean adults: A cross-sectional study. Medicine (Baltimore). 2017; 96:e5759.

35. Shin CM, Han K, Lee DH, Choi YJ, Kim N, Park YS, et al. Association among obesity, metabolic health, and the risk for colorectal cancer in the general population in Korea using the national health insurance service-national sample cohort. Dis Colon Rectum. 2017; 60:1192–1200.

36. Shin A, Joo J, Bak J, Yang HR, Kim J, Park S, et al. Site-specific risk factors for colorectal cancer in a Korean population. PLoS One. 2011; 6:e23196.

37. Shin A, Jung KW, Won YJ. Colorectal cancer mortality in Hong Kong of China, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore. World J Gastroenterol. 2013; 19:979–983.

38. Jee Y, Oh CM, Shin A. Recent decrease in colorectal cancer mortality rate is affected by birth cohort in Korea. Asian Pac J Cancer Prev. 2015; 16:3951–3955.

39. Arnold M, Sierra MS, Laversanne M, Soerjomataram I, Jemal A, Bray F. Global patterns and trends in colorectal cancer incidence and mortality. Gut. 2017; 66:683–691.

40. Park HC, Shin A, Kim BW, Jung KW, Won YJ, Oh JH, et al. Data on the characteristics and the survival of Korean patients with colorectal cancer from the Korea central cancer registry. Ann Coloproctol. 2013; 29:144–149.

41. Jeong SH, Jang ES, Choi HY, Kim KA, Chung W, Ki M. Current status of hepatitis C virus infection and countermeasures in South Korea. Epidemiol Health. 2017; 39:e2017017.

42. Shin A, Oh CM, Kim BW, Woo H, Won YJ, Lee JS. Lung cancer epidemiology in Korea. Cancer Res Treat. 2017; 49:616–626.

43. Park S, Jee SH, Shin HR, Park EH, Shin A, Jung KW, et al. Attributable fraction of tobacco smoking on cancer using population-based nationwide cancer incidence and mortality data in Korea. BMC Cancer. 2014; 14:406.

44. Kim BH, Park JW. Epidemiology of liver cancer in South Korea. Clin Mol Hepatol. 2018; 24:1–9.

45. Park EH, Min SY, Kim Z, Yoon CS, Jung KW, Nam SJ, et al. Basic facts of breast cancer in Korea in 2014: the 10-year overall survival progress. J Breast Cancer. 2017; 20:1–11.

46. Ko BS, Noh WC, Kang SS, Park BW, Kang EY, Paik NS, et al. Changing patterns in the clinical characteristics of korean breast cancer from 1996–2010 using an online nationwide breast cancer database. J Breast Cancer. 2012; 15:393–400.

47. Kweon SS, Shin MH, Chung IJ, Kim YJ, Choi JS. Thyroid cancer is the most common cancer in women, based on the data from population-based cancer registries, South Korea. Jpn J Clin Oncol. 2013; 43:1039–1046.

48. Ahn HS, Kim HJ, Kim KH, Lee YS, Han SJ, Kim Y, et al. Thyroid cancer screening in South Korea increases detection of papillary cancers with no impact on other subtypes or thyroid cancer mortality. Thyroid. 2016; 26:1535–1540.

49. Park S, Oh CM, Cho H, Lee JY, Jung KW, Jun JK, et al. Association between screening and the thyroid cancer “epidemic” in South Korea: evidence from a nationwide study. BMJ. 2016; 355:i5745.

50. Oh CM, Jung KW, Won YJ, Shin A, Kong HJ, Jun JK, et al. Trends in the incidence of in situ and invasive cervical cancer by age group and histological type in Korea from 1993 to 2009. PLoS One. 2013; 8:e72012.

51. Shim SH, Kim H, Sohn IS, Hwang HS, Kwon HS, Lee SJ, et al. Nationwide cervical cancer screening in Korea: data from the National Health Insurance Service Cancer Screening Program and National Cancer Screening Program, 2009–2014. J Gynecol Oncol. 2017; 28:e63.

52. Nah EH, Cho S, Kim S, Cho HI. Human papillomavirus genotype distribution among 18,815 women in 13 Korean cities and relationship with cervical cytology findings. Ann Lab Med. 2017; 37:426–433.

53. Ouh YT, Min KJ, Cho HW, Ki M, Oh JK, Shin SY, et al. Prevalence of human papillomavirus genotypes and precancerous cervical lesions in a screening population in the Republic of Korea, 2014–2016. J Gynecol Oncol. 2018; 29:e14.

54. Min KJ, Kwon SH, Kim S, Kim HJ, Seong SJ, Song YJ, et al. Preventive vaccination against cervical cancer: Korean Society of Gynecologic Oncology Guideline. J Gynecol Oncol. 2016; 27:e30.

55. Han HH, Park JW, Na JC, Chung BH, Kim CS, Ko WJ. Epidemiology of prostate cancer in South Korea. Prostate Int. 2015; 3:99–102.

56. Park SK, Sakoda LC, Kang D, Chokkalingam AP, Lee E, Shin HR, et al. Rising prostate cancer rates in South Korea. Prostate. 2006; 66:1285–1291.

57. Chi BH, Chang IH. Prostate cancer: recent trends in Korea. Urol Int. 2010; 85:88–93.

58. Jeong IG, Dajani D, Verghese M, Hwang J, Cho YM, Hong JH, et al. Differences in the aggressiveness of prostate cancer among Korean, Caucasian, and African American men: A retrospective cohort study of radical prostatectomy. Urol Oncol. 2016; 34:3.e9–3.e14.

59. Kang DI, Chung JI, Ha HK, Min K, Yoon J, Kim W, et al. Korean prostate cancer patients have worse disease characteristics than their American counterparts. Asian Pac J Cancer Prev. 2013; 14:6913–6917.

60. Lucas AL, Malvezzi M, Carioli G, Negri E, La Vecchia C, Boffetta P, et al. Global trends in pancreatic cancer mortality from 1980 through 2013 and predictions for 2017. Clin Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2016; 14:1452–1462.e4.

61. Bosetti C, Bertuccio P, Negri E, La Vecchia C, Zeegers MP, Boffetta P. Pancreatic cancer: overview of descriptive epidemiology. Mol Carcinog. 2012; 51:3–13.

62. Wi Y, Woo H, Won YJ, Jang JY, Shin A. Trends in gallbladder cancer incidence and survival in Korea. Cancer Res Treat. 2018; DOI: 10.4143/crt.2017.279. [Epub ahead of print].