보건복지부 영문홈페이지

Five-Year Relative Survival Rate of Cancer patients is 72.1%, up by 6.6%p in ten years

- The 2021 National Cancer Statistics, including cancer incidence, survival and prevalence statistics, have just been released -

- Thyroid cancer ranks no. 1, followed by colorectal, lung and stomach cancers. -

<Summary>

The Ministry of Health and Welfare (Minister Cho, KyooHong) and the Korea Central Cancer Registry (National Cancer Center, President Seo, Hong Gwan) have jointly published the 2021 National Cancer Statistics, which include the cancer incidence rates, relative survival rates, and prevalence rates.

The number of new cancer cases in 2021 increased by 27,002, or 10.8%, to 277,523 compared to 2020. The increased number of new cancer is attributed to resurgence of healthcare utilization including cancer screening, which declined during the COVID-19 pandemic, and an expansion of the scope of cancer registration following the changes in the cancer registration guideline.

Thyroid cancer was the most common cancer with 35,303 newly diagnosed patients in 2021, up by 19.1% from 2020, followed by colorectal, lung, stomach, breast, prostate, and liver cancers.

Cases of stomach, colorectal, liver, and cervical cancer, which are eligible for the national cancer screening service, have been on the decline over the last ten years, whereas breast cancer has been on the rise during the past twenty years.

The 5-year relative survival rate for cancer patients diagnosed between 2017 and 2021 was 72.1%, meaning that seven out of ten cancer patients survived for five years or more. The 5-year relative survival rate has been steadily rising over the last ten years, up by 6.6%p from 65.5% for cancer patients diagnosed between 2006 and 2010.

As of January 1, 2022, 2,434,089 patients had been diagnosed with cancer, or 1 in every 21 people, representing 4.7% of the nation’s population. In addition, 1,194,156 patients aged 65 and over had been diagnosed with cancer, which accounts for one out of seven people.

In 2021, 1,479,536 or 60.8% of all diagnosed cancer patients survived for more than five years after their initial diagnosis, up by 111,396 from the 1,368,140 recorded the previous year. ///