The corporation said Wednesday 28 percent or 32,000 out of 114,793 people who were diagnosed with cancer in 2003 were dead within a year. Among those with breast, uterine, skin, ovarian and prostate cancer, the survival rate was 90 percent, but only half the patients with pancreas, liver and lung cancer lived for more than a year after diagnosis. More women (79.4 percent) survived than men (65.9 percent).

Some 118,192 people were diagnosed with cancer in 2004, with gastric cancer the most common form, followed by lung, colon, liver and breast cancer. Among women, breast cancer topped the list, followed by stomach, colon and lung cancer, while men suffered most from gastric cancer, followed by lung, liver and colon cancer. Some 249 out of every 100,000 fell ill with the disease, similar to Japan’s 214.5, but fewer than the U.S.’ 357.7, Germany’s 283.3 and the U.K.’s 273.6.

In 2004, 363,863 patients were being treated for cancer, which means one in every 130 people got cancer. Gastric cancer remained the most the most common form accounting for one in five cases. Twice as many men as women suffered from gastric and lung cancer, possibly because they smoked and drank more than women.

Regions with a high elderly population had more cancer patients, with South Jeolla Province leading with 956 out of 100,000 people. South Chungcheong Province came second with 895, followed by North Gyeongsang Province with 865, and North Jeolla Province and Seoul with 851 each. Ulsan and Incheon, with their smaller elderly population, had relatively small numbers of cancer patients with 620 and 644 respectively.

A cancer patient spent on average W7.95 million (US$7,950) on medical treatment, W1.99 of it out of their own pocket and the rest covered by the corporation. The corporation paid out W990 billion to cancer patients in 2004, an amount it expects to rise to W1 trillion in 2005.

(englishnews@chosun.com )