Lung Cancer to Remain the Deadliest Form

Lung cancer will continue to top the list of cancer deaths in Korea for the coming 16 years, according to a study.

Sohn Mi-ah and Yoon Jae-won at Kangwon National University College of Medicine recently published research on estimated cancer deaths for the 2028-2032 period in the Journal of Korean Medical Science.

They based their estimate on cancer deaths from 2008 to 2012.

Lung cancer was the deadliest form of the disease among men during the 2008-2012 period, followed by liver, gastric, colorectal and pancreatic cancer.

It was also the deadliest cancer for women, followed by gastric, colorectal, liver and pancreatic cancer.

Lung cancer will remain the deadliest form of the disease in the 2028-2032 period, according to the study, killing 60.1 men per 100,000, followed by colorectal (33.3), liver (33.2), gastric (22.5), and pancreatic (16.9).

The death rate for prostate cancer will more than double to 12.1 per 100,000, the authors estimate.

Among women, lung cancer will kill 24.9 per 100,000 in 2028-2032, followed by colorectal (19.9), pancreatic (12.5), liver (11) and breast cancer (10.6).

The death rates for lung and colorectal cancer will increase drastically among both men and women as a result of lifestyle factors like smoking and a westernized diet -- 1.3-fold among men and 1.46-fold among women for lung cancer and 1.94-fold among men and 1.49-fold among women for colorectal cancer.