Lung Cancer Epidemiology in Korea.
OBJECTIVE
The current study was undertaken to examine the trends in the lung cancer incidence, mortality, and survival after a diagnosis in Korea.


METHODS
Lung cancer incidence data according to the histologic type and mortality data were obtained from the Korea Central Cancer Registry and the Statistics Korea, respectively. The age-standardized incidence and mortality rates were calculated, and the Joinpoint model and age-period-cohort analyses were used to describe the trends in the rates. The 5-year relative survival rates of lung cancer were also calculated.


RESULTS
Although the number of new lung cancer cases increased between 1999 and 2012, the age-standardized incidence rate decreased by 0.9% per year in men, whereas the incidence in women increased by 1.7% per year over the same time. Until 2010, the most common histologic type in men was squamous cell carcinoma, then adenocarcinoma prevailed thereafter. Since 1999, the most frequent histological type in women was adenocarcinoma. The lung cancer mortality started to decrease in 2002, with a more apparent decline for the younger age groups in both men and women. Overall, the 5-year relative survival rates have improved significantly from 11.2% for men and 14.7% for women among patients diagnosed between 1993 and 1997 to 19.3% for men and 28.2% for women among patients diagnosed between 2008 and 2012, respectively. An improvement in survival rate was observed for all major histology groups.


CONCLUSIONS
The epidemiology of lung cancer in Korea has changed over a short time span, with decreasing mortality and improving survival rates. Further study is warranted to determine the cause of these changes.
Cancer Registration and Statistics Branch, National Cancer Center, Goyang, Korea.|Department of Preventive Medicine, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.|Cancer Research Institute, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
Aesun
A
Shin
Cancer Registration and Statistics Branch, National Cancer Center, Goyang, Korea.
Chang-Mo
CM
Oh
Cancer Registration and Statistics Branch, National Cancer Center, Goyang, Korea.
Byung-Woo
BW
Kim
Department of Preventive Medicine, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
Hyeongtaek
H
Woo
Cancer Registration and Statistics Branch, National Cancer Center, Goyang, Korea.
Young-Joo
YJ
Won
National Cancer Center Research Institute and Hospital, National Cancer Center, Goyang, Korea.
Jin-Soo
JS
Lee
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000401:mortality; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011159:Population Surveillance; D012042:Registries; D056910:Republic of Korea / Q000453:epidemiology; D015996:Survival Rate; D055815:Young Adult
Adenocarcinoma; Epidemiology; Incidence; Lung neoplasms; Mortality; Survival
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