SEOUL, Dec. 20 (Korea Bizwire) – The survival rate of South Korean cancer patients topped 70 percent in 2014 and the total number of people newly diagnosed and being treated for the disease dropped over the past three years, government data showed Tuesday.
The rate of people diagnosed with cancer who lived more than five years came to 70.3 percent between 2010 and 2014, up from 69.4 percent tallied for the 2009-2013 period, according to the data compiled by the Ministry of Health and Welfare.
The survival rate for prostate cancer reached 93.3 percent, with numbers for colorectal and breast cancer reaching 93.8 percent and 92.2 percent during the cited period, respectively, the report showed.
The findings showed the survival rate for liver and lung cancer stood at 32.8 percent and 25.1 percent, respectively, although both were up compared to the previous period.
The report also showed that the number of South Koreans newly diagnosed with cancer came to 217,057 in 2014, down 4.5 percent from 227,188 tallied a year earlier.
Among newly diagnosed cancers reported in the one-year period, thyroid cancer ranked No. 1 followed by stomach and colorectal cancers. Lung and breast cancers rounded out the top five.
By gender, thyroid cancer was the most common cancer among women in 2014 accounting for 23.6 percent of all new cases, followed by breast cancer with 17.6 percent, the report showed.
(Yonhap)