Esophageal Cancer in Korea: Epidemiology and Treatment Patterns

Abstract

According to statistics from 2017, esophageal cancer is the fifteenth most common cancer and the eleventh most common cause of cancer-related death in Korea. The most common pathology is esophageal squamous cell carcinoma. Moreover, the incidence of esophageal cancer has been gradually decreasing in Korea, and the percentage of early-stage cases has gradually increased to the point that it is higher than that of other countries. The 5-year relative survival rate has improved over time. Approximately 800 esophagectomy procedures are performed annually. Using a cut-off number of 21 cases per 2 years to define high-volume centers, it was found that 70% of esophagectomies were performed by a few high-volume centers. Unfortunately, there is no nationwide registry or database on esophageal cancer and esophagectomy in Korea. Efforts to establish a nationwide database on esophageal cancer and esophagectomy should be made.

Keywords: Epidemiology; Esophageal cancer; Statistics; Surgery.

Fig. 1

Cancer incidence (A) and deaths (B) in Korea, 2017.

Fig. 2

Trends in the age-standardized incidence rate (A) and cancer mortality (B) per 100,000 person-years between 1999 and 2017. APC, annual percentage change.

Fig. 3

Incidence rates of esophageal cancer per 100,000 person-years according to the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) staging system.

Fig. 4

Trends in the 5-year relative survival rate (%) in Korea.

Fig. 5

(A–C) The 1-, 3-, and 5-year relative survival rates (%) of patients with esophageal cancer from the time of diagnosis, according to the SEER (Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results) staging system.