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. 2018 Apr;50(2):345-355.
doi: 10.4143/crt.2017.096. Epub 2017 Apr 25.

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

Young-Seok Seo  1 , Mi-Sook Kim  1   2 , Jin-Kyu Kang  3 , Won-Il Jang  1 , Hee Jin Kim  2 , Chul Koo Cho  1 , Hyung Jun Yoo  1 , Eun Kyung Paik  1 , Yu Jin Cha  1 , Jae Sun Yoon  4
Affiliations

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

Young-Seok Seo et al. Cancer Res Treat. 2018 Apr.

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.

Keywords: Korea; Neoplasms; Radiotherapy; Statistics.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of interest relevant to this article was not reported.

Figures

Fig. 1.
Fig. 1.
The total number of patients who underwent radiation therapy between 2011 and 2015 in Korea.
Fig. 2.
Fig. 2.
The total numbers of male and female patients who received radiation therapy between 2011 and 2015 in Korea.
Fig. 3.
Fig. 3.
Cancer incidence and the total number of patients who received radiation therapy between 2009 and 2013 in Korea.
Fig. 4.
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.
Fig. 5.
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.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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