Advances in Cancer Treatment and Survival Rates in Korea: Insights from Professor Kim Hee-jeong of Asan Medical Center

2023-12-28 18:03:36
Professor Kim Hee-jeong of the Breast Surgery Department at Asan Medical Center in Seoul is treating a young patient with hormone-positive breast cancer. Photo not related to the article. / Provided by Asan Medical Center, Seoul

Thanks to advances in medical technology and early screening, 7 out of 10 cancer patients survive for more than 5 years. The number of new cancer patients annually approached 300,000. Thyroid cancer, colon cancer, and lung cancer occurred most frequently in that order.

On the 28th, the Ministry of Health and Welfare announced the 2021 national cancer registration statistics. The 5-year relative survival rate for cancer patients diagnosed between 2017 and 2021 was 72.1%. Compared to 10 years ago, 2006-2010 (65.5%), it increased by 6.6 percentage points, and compared to 1993-1995 (42.9%), it increased by 29.2 percentage points. Relative survival rate is the probability of cancer patients surviving compared to the general population.

An official from the Ministry of Health and Welfare said, “Cancer is considered cured five years after diagnosis,” and added, “The survival rate has increased as cancer is detected at an early stage due to advancements in treatment technology and the national cancer screening program.”

The number of patients newly diagnosed with cancer in 2021 was 277,523. There was an increase of 27,002 people (10.8%) compared to the previous year. The most common cancers in 2021 were thyroid cancer (12.7%), colon cancer (11.8%), lung cancer (11.4%), and stomach cancer (10.6%).

If Korean citizens live to the expected life expectancy (83.6 years), the probability of developing cancer is calculated to be 38.1%. It is estimated that 2 out of 5 men (life expectancy: 80.6 years) and 1 out of 3 women (life expectancy: 86.6 years) will develop cancer.

The number of people with cancer (cured people + cancer patients) is 2,434,089 in 2021, an increase of 157,297 compared to the previous year. It was 4.7% of the total population. In particular, the number of people who were considered cured five years after their cancer diagnosis increased by 111,396 from the previous year to 1,479,536, or 60.8% of all cancer patients.

Compared to foreign countries, the net survival rate of cancer patients in our country was found to be high. The 5-year net survival rate for gastric cancer patients in the US and UK was only 33.1% and 20.7%, respectively, but in Korea it reached 68.9%. For liver cancer, the 5-year net survival rate was 17.4% and 13% in the US and UK, respectively, but in Korea it was 27.2%.

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