• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.40 no.3
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• pp.233-238
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• 2007

Objectives : We aimed to assess the relationship between long-term exposure to air pollution and lung cancer in the Republic of Korea. Methods : Using the Annual Report of Ambient Air Quality in Korea, Annual Report of National Cancer Registration, and Annual Report on the Cause of Death Statistics, we calculated the standardized mortality ratio (SMR) and standardized incidence ratio (SIR) of lung cancer for both sexes in 74 areas from 7 Korean metropolitan cities. We performed random intercept, Poisson regression using empirical Bayes method. Results : Both SMRs and SIRs in the 7 metropolitan cities were higher in women than in men. Mean SIRs were 99.0 for males and 107.0 for females. The association between $PM_{10}$ and lung cancer risk differed according to gender. $PM_{10}$ was not associated with the risk of lung cancer in males, but both incidence and mortality of lung cancer were positively associated with $PM_{10}$ in females. The estimated percentage increases in the rate of female lung cancer mortality and incidence were 27% and 65% at the highest $PM_{10}$ category $({\geq}70\;{\mu}g/m^3)$, compared to the referent category $({\geq}50\;{\mu}g/m^3)$. Conclusions : Long-term exposure to $PM_{10}$ was significantly associated with female lung cancer incidence in 7 Korean metropolitan cities. Further study is undergoing to estimate the relative risk of $PM_{10}$ using multi-level analysis for controlling individual and regional confounders such as smoking and socioeconomic position.

• Journal of Gastric Cancer
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.160-168
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• 2022

This study investigated the trends of gastric cancer in Korea by adding the latest updated gastric cancer data from 2019. Gastric cancer incidence between 1999 and 2019 was reviewed using data from the Korea Central Cancer Registry. The study period was divided into 3 periods: period I (1999-2005), period II (2006-2012), and period III (2013-2019). The incidence, mortality, tumor location, histology, stage, and treatment were analyzed. Between 1999 and 2019, 577,502 patients were newly diagnosed with gastric cancer in Korea, accounting for 33.2% of patients aged ≥ 70 years. The age-standardized incidence rate (per 100,000) significantly decreased from 2011 (43.0) to 2019 (29.6), with an annual percent change of -4.50. Additionally, the age-standardized mortality rate (per 100,000) markedly decreased from 1999 (23.9) to 2019 (6.7). The proportions of patients with cardia and fundus cancers remained consistent. The proportion of localized stage cases increased, while those of regional and distant stages decreased. The rate of surgical treatment increased in localized and regional stages from 2006 to 2019. The overall 5-year relative survival (5YRS) rate of gastric cancer (per 100,000) increased from 55.7% in period I to 77.0% in period III. From 2013 to 2019, the 5YRS rates of patients (per 100,000) who underwent surgical treatment were 100.6% and 70.5% in the localized and regional stages, respectively. The results of this study demonstrated several changes in the epidemiology of gastric cancer in Korea. This study provides information to help understand the current trends in gastric cancer in Korea.

• Journal of the Korean Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons
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• v.38 no.1
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• pp.20-28
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• 2012

Introduction: The objective of this research was to determine the incidence of oral cancer in Korea. Materials and Methods: The classifications of oral and maxillofacial cancer (OMFC) that we used are based on possible locations of OMFC: lip, tongue, mouth, salivary glands, tonsil, oropharynx, nasopharynx, hypopharynx, pharynx unspecified, and nose, sinuses. Results: 1) There were 2,848 OMFC cases, accounting for 1.6% of all cancers. The male to female ratio was 2.72:1. 2) The estimated crude rates (CRs) were 5.7 overall, 8.4 for males, and 3.1 for females. The age-standardized incidence rates (ASRs) were 4.6 overall, 7.3 for males and 2.3 for females. 3) The incidence of mouth cancer was highest. The mouth and salivary glands were the most frequent sites for cancer among males and females, respectively. 4) Patients who were 40 years or older accounted for 91% of OMFC cases, with the highest proportion of cases in the 60-69 year-old age group for both sexes. 5) Tongue cancer was the most prevalent OMFC overall. Nasopharyngeal cancer was highest among males, and salivary gland cancer was highest among females. 6) From 2004 to 2008, the relative 5-year survival rate of OMFC patients was 57.5%. There was a trend of increasing survival among OMFC patients during the study period. The survival rate for females (69.3%) was much higher than that for males (53.1%). Conclusion: Social and personal efforts should be required to increase the survival rates of OMFC patients and Korean national cancer management policy should establish new measures for economic and social management and support.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.79 no.2
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• pp.58-69
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• 2016

Lung cancer causes the most cancer deaths in Korea. Although the smoking rate has begun to decrease, the prevalence of lung cancer is still increasing. We reviewed the national lung cancer registry data and the data published about lung cancer in Korea. In 2012, the crude incidence rate of lung cancer was 43.9 per 100,000. The age-standardized mortality rate of lung cancer was 19.8 per 100,000. The 5-year relative survival rate for lung cancer was 11.3% from 1993 to 1995 and increased to 21.9% in the period from 2008 to 2012. Lung cancer occurring in never-smokers was estimated to increase in Korea. Adenocarcinoma is steadily increasing in both women and men and has replaced squamous cell carcinoma as the most common type of lung cancer in Korea. In patients with adenocarcinoma, the frequency of EGFR mutations was 43% (range, 20%-56%), while that of the EMK4-ALK gene was less than 5%.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.27 no.4 s.48
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• pp.735-745
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• 1994

The incidence data (1991. 7. 1$\sim$1992. 6. 30) from the Implementation Study of Seoul Cancer Registry (ISSCR) were evaluated in terms of its completeness and validity. Two indicators for the completeness, Mortality/Incidence ratio (M/I ratio) and Age-specific Incidence Curve, showed fairy good registration throughout the age-sex specific strata, except the strata aged over 75 years old. The strata had very high M/I ratio (over 100%) and decreasing pattern of incidence, which suggested incomplete registration of cancer in this group. The active surveillance by a ISSCR staff improved the registration rate especially among elderlies. From the site specific M/I ratio, we found that liver cancer had oddly high M/I ratio. Since this high M/I ratio of liver cancer appears consistently in other reliable cancer registries, it is more like to be due to the high fatality of it rather than incomplete registration. The validity of the incidence data was assessed by three indicators; Histological Verification (HV%), Primary Site Unknown (PSU%), and Age Unknown (Age UNK%). The average HV% were 77% for men and 85% for women, which were slightly lower than those of other reliable cancer registries. This low HV% might be due to the considerable size of relative frequency of liver cancer in Korea, regarding the fact that the diagnosis of liver cancer is made mostly by non-biopsical radiologic methods (CT, Ultrasono, Angiography, MRI etc.). The level of PSU% and Age UNK% were in acceptable range, but not low enough, especially in terms of Age UNK%. Although ISSCR data had acceptable quality in general, it is needed to have more hospitals participate in the registry surveillance, to make registery data merged with death certificate data regulary, and educate the registration stans to be more competent and dedicated.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.14
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• pp.5669-5673
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• 2015

Background: Breast cancer is the most prevalent kind of cancer among women in Iran. Regarding the importance of cancer prevention and considerable variation of breast cancer incidence in different parts of the country, it is necessary to recognize regions with high incidence of breast cancer and evaluate the role of potential risk factors by use of advanced statistical models. The present study focussed on incidence of breast cancer in Iran at the province level and also explored the impact of some prominent covariates using Bayesian models. Materials and Methods: All patients diagnosed with breast cancer in Iran from 2005 to 2008 were included in the study. Smoking, fruit and vegetable intake, physical activity, obesity and the Human Development Index (HDI), measured at the province level, were considered as potential modulating factors. Gamma-Poisson, log normal and BYM models were used to estimate the relative risk of breast cancer in this ecological investigation with and without adjustment for the covariates. Results: The unadjusted BYM model had the best fit among applied models. Without adjustment, Isfahan, Yazd, and Tehran had the highest incidences and Sistan- Baluchestan and Chaharmahal-Bakhtiari had the lowest. With the adjusted model, Khorasan-Razavi, Lorestan and Hamedan had the highest and Ardebil and Kohgiluyeh-Boyerahmad the lowest incidences. A significantly direct association was found between breast cancer incidence and HDI. Conclusions: BYM model has better fit, because it contains parameters that allow including effects from neighbors. Since HDI is a significant variable, it is also recommended that HDI should be considered in future investigations. This study showed that Yazd, Isfahan and Tehran provinces feature the highest crude incidences of breast cancer.

• Korean Journal of Community Nutrition
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.211-227
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• 2021

Objectives: We aimed to examine the association between the relative preference for vegetables and meat and cancer incidence, in a population-based retrospective cohort in Korea. Methods: We included 10,148,131 participants (5,794,124 men; 4,354,007 women) who underwent national health screening between 2004 and 2005 from the National Health Information Database of the National Health Insurance Service (NHIS-NHID). Participants were asked whether they preferred consuming 1) vegetables more often, 2) both vegetables and meat or 3) meat more often. Participants were followed up to Dec. 31, 2017. All cancer and eighteen common cancer cases were identified through the code from the International Classification of Diseases, 10th revision. We estimated sex-specific relative risks and 95% confidence intervals, adjusting for age, body mass index, alcohol consumption, smoking, physical activity, and income level. Results: During an average follow-up of 12.4 years, 714,170 cancer cases were documented. In men, consuming meat more often was associated with lower risk of esophageal, liver, and stomach cancers, but higher risk of lung and kidney cancers. Consuming both vegetables and meat was associated with higher risk of prostate cancer, but with lower risk of esophageal, liver, and stomach cancers in men. In women, consuming meat more often was associated with a higher risk of colorectal cancer and breast, endometrial, and cervical cancers diagnosed before the age of 50. Consuming both vegetables and meat was associated with lower risk of liver cancer in women. Conclusions: Our study suggests a potential link between vegetable and meat intake and cancer incidence in the Korean population. Further investigation on the association between the intake of specific types of vegetables and meat and cancer risk in Korean prospective cohort studies is needed.

• Annals of Hepato-Biliary-Pancreatic Surgery
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.220-228
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• 2022

Backgrounds/Aims: In Korea, pancreatic cancer and "gallbladder and extrahepatic bile duct cancer" were ranked the 8th and 9th most frequent cancers in 2019 and the 4th and 6th most common causes of cancer deaths in 2020, respectively. Methods: This review provides national cancer statistics and secular trends of 207,521 patients with gallbladder (n = 44,178), extrahepatic bile duct (n = 61,856), and pancreatic cancer (n = 101,487) between 1999 and 2019 in Korea. Results: The crude incidence rate in both sexes increased in the gallbladder (2.8 to 5.4 per 100,000), extrahepatic bile duct (3.6 to 9.0), and pancreatic cancer (5.5 to 15.8). The age-standardized incidence rate in both sexes significantly increased in the extrahepatic bile duct (3.7 to 4.1) and pancreatic (5.6 to 7.6) cancers but decreased in gallbladder cancer (2.9 to 2.4). The overall 5-year relative survival rate increased in the gallbladder (21.8% to 30.6%), extrahepatic bile duct (23.1% to 27.5%), and pancreatic (8.5% to 13.3%) cancers. Between 2006 and 2019, the proportion of localized or regional stages remained stable. The proportion of surgical treatment within the first 4 months after diagnosis was relatively higher in the gallbladder (42.2%) and extrahepatic bile duct (45.9%) cancers than in pancreatic cancer (22.2%). Conclusions: The crude incidence and mortality rates of the gallbladder, extrahepatic bile duct, and pancreatic cancer are steadily increasing in Korea, and the prognosis remains poor. Early detection, active application of surgical treatment, and minimization of the proportion of untreated patients are required to improve the survival rates of these cancers.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.9
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• pp.4677-4681
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• 2012

Objective: Egg consumption has been suggested to increase the risk of colorectal and some other cancers. The present study summarized and quantified the current evidence relating dietary intake of eggs and prostate cancer. Materials and methods: Literature searches were conducted to identify peer-reviewed manuscripts published up to July 2012. Twenty manuscripts from nine cohort studies and 11 case-control studies were identified. Summary risk estimates with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated for case-control and cohort studies separately. Results: Neither the case-control not the cohort studies showed any association of prostate cancer incidence with egg consumption (case-control studies: odds ratio 1.09, 95% CI 0.86-1.31; cohort studies: relative risk 0.97, 95% CI 0.97-1.07). The results were consistent in subgroup analysis. Furthermore, no association was observed between egg consumption and prostate cancer-specific mortality. Conclusions: Our analyses provided no evidence of a significant influence of egg consumption on prostate cancer incidence and mortality. However, more studies, particularly large prospective studies, are needed.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.24-32
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• 2002

Objective : Few studies have examined the relationship between the risk of cancer and exposure to pesticides in Korea or in other East Asian that have until recently used chlorophenoxy herbicides. The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship between the exposure to pesticides and cancer incidence. Methods : We conducted a prospective cohort study with a follow-up period of 13 years (1985-1998). The subjects included 2,687 male and 3,589 female Kangwha Island residents, Koreans aged fifty-five or more as of March 1985, who received a personal health interview and completed a health examination survey. A Cox proportional hazards models were used to estimate relative risks(RR). Results : At baseline, the mean age of the study participants in 1985 was 66.4 for males and 67.1 for females. During the 13 years follow-up, a total of 300 incidents of cancer in males and 140 in females developed. In males, the total cancer incidence in the highest group was RR, 1.4 (95%. CI=1.0-1.9), p for trend=0.041, for digestive organ cancer Incidence in the highest group, RR, 1.5 (95% CI=1.0-2.3), p for trend=0.057, for stomach cancer, incidence in the highest group, RR, 1.6 (95% CI=0.9-2.8), p for trend=0.094, for gallbladder cancer incidence in the highest group, RR, 9.1 (95% CI=1.1-77.0), p for trend=0.014 were elevated according to the higher frequency of pesticide use per year. In particular, the risk of gallbladder cancer was very high. Although not significant, the risk of liver cancer was higher than in the non-exposed group (in the highest group, RR, 2.0(95% CI=0.7-5.9)). In females, although not significant, breast cancer incidence in the highest exposure group was higher than in the non-exposed group (in the highest group, RR, 4.7 (95% CI=0.5-27.9)). Conclusions : This study demonstrates that Korean farmers who use pesticides, particularly males, have a significantly higher total cancer incidence, particularly from digestive organ cancers such as, stomach, gallbladder, and liver cancer. In particular, the risk of gallbladder cancer was very high.