Cancer Statistics in Korea: Incidence, Mortality, Survival, and Prevalence in 2014

Abstract

Purpose: This study presents the 2014 nationwide cancer statistics in Korea, including cancer incidence, survival, prevalence, and mortality.

Materials and methods: Cancer incidence data from 1999 to 2014 was obtained from the Korea National Cancer Incidence Database and followed until December 31, 2015. Mortality data from 1983 to 2014 were obtained from Statistics Korea. The prevalence was defined as the number of cancer patients alive on January 1, 2015, among all cancer patients diagnosed since 1999. Crude and age-standardized rates (ASRs) for incidence, mortality, prevalence, and 5-year relative survivals were also calculated.

Results: In 2014, 217,057 and 76,611 Koreans were newly diagnosed and died from cancer respectively. The ASRs for cancer incidence and mortality in 2014 were 270.7 and 85.1 per 100,000, respectively. The all-cancer incidence rate has increased significantly by 3.4% annually from 1999 to 2012, and started to decrease after 2012 (2012-2014; annual percent change, -6.6%). However, overall cancer mortality has decreased 2.7% annually since 2002. The 5-year relative survival rate for patients diagnosed with cancer between 2010 and 2014 was 70.3%, an improvement from the 41.2% for patients diagnosed between 1993 and 1995.

Conclusion: Age-standardized cancer incidence rates have decreased since 2012 and mortality rates have also declined since 2002, while 5-year survival rates have improved remarkably from 1993-1995 to 2010-2014 in Korea.

Keywords: Incidence; Korea; Mortality; Neoplasms; Prevalence; Survival.

Fig. 1.

Annual age-standardized cancer incidence and death rates by sex for all sites from 1983 to 2014 in Korea. Age standardization was based on the Segi’s world standard population.

Fig. 2.

Trends in age-standardized incidences of selected cancers by sex from 1999 to 2014 in Korea. (A) Men. (B) Women. Age standardization was based on the Segi’s world standard population.

Fig. 3.

Annual age-standardized cancer mortalities of selected cancers by sex from 1983 to 2014 in Korea. (A) Men. (B) Women. Age standardization was based on the Segi’s world standard population.

Fig. 4.

Age-specific incidence rates of common cancers for 2014 in Korea. (A) Men. (B) Women

Fig. 5.

Trends in relative survival by year of diagnosis from 1999 to 2014. (A) All sites for both sexes. (B) All sites except thyroid cancer for both sexes.

Fig. 6.

Prevalence of common cancer sites by time period after cancer diagnosis. Prevalent cases were defined as the number of cancer patients alive on January 1, 2015 among all cancer patients diagnosed between 1999 and 2014.