Cancer statistics in Korea: Incidence, mortality, survival, and prevalence in 2008

Purpose: This paper overviews the nationwide cancer statistics including incidence, mortality, survival and prevalence, and their trends in Korea based on the year 2008 cancer incidence data. Materials and Methods: Incidence data from 1993 to 2008 were obtained from the Korea National Cancer Incidence Database, and the vital status was followed through December 31, 2009. Mortality data from 1983 to 2008 were obtained from the Korea National Statistics Office. Crude rates and agestandardized rates for incidence, mortality, prevalence and relative survival were calculated. Results: There were 178,816 cancer cases and 68,912 cancer deaths observed during year 2008 and 724,663 10-year cancer prevalent cases as of January 1, 2009 in Korea. The incidence rate for all cancer combined showed an annual increase of 3.1% from 1999 to 2008. Conclusion: With significantly increasing cancer incidence, Korea faces a large cancer burden and efficient cancer control programs are essential.