Cancer Statistics in Korea: Incidence, Mortality, Survival, and Prevalence in 2020.

PURPOSE: The current study provides national cancer statistics and their secular trends in Korea, including incidence, mortality, survival, and prevalence in 2020. Materials and Methods: Incidence, survival, and prevalence rates of cancer were calculated using the Korea National Cancer Incidence Database, from 1999 to 2020, with survival follow-up until December 31, 2021. Deaths from cancer were assessed using causes-of-death data obtained from Statistics Korea. RESULTS: The number of new cancer diagnoses in 2020 decreased by 9,218 cases (3.6%) compared to 2019. In 2020, newly diagnosed cancer cases and deaths from cancer were reported as 247,952 (age-standardized rate [ASR], 262.2 per 100,000) and 82,204 (ASR, 69.9 per 100,000), respectively. The overall cancer incidence rates increased by 3.3% annually from 1999 to 2012, and decreased by 5.0% annually from 2012 to 2015, thereafter, followed by nonsignificant changes. Cancer mortality rates have been decreasing since 2002, with more rapid decline in recent years. The 5-year relative survival between 2016 and 2020 was 71.5%, which contributed to prevalent cases reaching over 2.2 million in 2020. CONCLUSION: In 2020, the number of newly diagnosed cancer patients decreased due to the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic, but the overall trend is on the rise. Cancer survival rates have improved over the past decades. As the number of cancer survivors increases, a comprehensive cancer control strategy should be implemented in line with the changing aspects of cancer statistics. The long-term impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic on cancer statistics needs to be investigated in the future.

Awareness of and Practice toward Cancer Prevention Recommendations: Results of the Korean Cancer Prevention Awareness and Practice Survey in 2021.

Objectives: To report data regarding the awareness and practice of cancer prevention among Koreans in 2021 and behavioral changes during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: We collected Cancer Prevention Awareness and Practice Survey data through face-to-face interview surveys using a structured questionnaire, which was completed by 4,000 randomly selected men and women aged between 20 and 74 years in 17 provinces. We examined the awareness and practice of 10 cancer prevention recommendations. To evaluate the associations of potential risk factors with awareness and practice of cancer prevention, we used multiple logistic regression adjusted for age, sex, residence, marital status, education, and income. Results: Eighty percent of participants knew that cancer is preventable, while 45% practiced cancer prevention. The practice tended to be higher in older age (aOR: 1.4 per 10 years increment) and lower in rural (aOR: 0.7, 95% CI: 0.5-0.9) than in urban areas and in single people (aOR: 0.9, 95% CI: 0.5-0.7) than in married people. Practices were the highest for avoiding burned or charred foods (87.6%) and lowest for vaccination against human papillomavirus (14.5%). Refusal to follow recommendations was the highest for avoiding alcohol consumption (7.9%). The most difficult recommendations to follow were (1) regular exercise (57.7%); (2) maintaining healthy body weight (46.1%); and (3) avoiding alcohol (40.1%). The most significant COVID-19-related changes were less exercise (32.5%) and increased body weight (25.6). Conclusion: The awareness of cancer prevention is high, but the practice is low. Recommendations targeting awareness and practice need to be further promoted.

A Comparative Analysis of the Perception of Cancer Patients and Healthcare Providers (Oncology Physicians, Nurses, Social Workers) in Support of Integrated Community-Linked Cancer Plans.

This study aimed to examine the awareness and status of cancer patients and healthcare providers (physicians, nurses and social workers) regarding community linkage, in order to establish a desirable care plan model in a future research project. The survey was conducted via two methods: face-to-face for cancer patients (n = 308) and oncology physicians (n = 210), and due to COVID-19 circumstances, online for nurses (n = 200) and social workers (n = 313). As a result, more than 95% of the healthcare providers responded that cancer patients required community-linked services and discharge plans, whereas 50.7% and 79.2% of cancer patients noted the importance of community-linked services and discharge plans, respectively. Social workers, among healthcare providers, showed the most positive experience about connecting patients to community services since 69.7% of them responded as "excellent". However, as a group, cancer patients considered the necessity of community-linked service as less important, as only 50.7% responded as agreeing it was necessary. The barriers to community linkage were the lack of communication among the different professions of healthcare providers, and the ambiguity in their roles. The findings of this study will inform future community-linked health research, policies and systems for cancer patients. In particular, an in-depth interview with cancer patients will be required to explore their lack of acknowledgment about the necessity of community-linked services. Therefore, this study is expected to contribute to the improvement and supplementation of cancer policies.