Epidemiologic characteristics of cervical cancer in Korean women

Abstract

Cervical cancer is the third most common malignant disease of women worldwide and the most common malignant disease afflicting women in many developing countries [1,2]. Even though the incidence of cervical cancer has been reduced in developed countries in recent decades as a result of widespread, routine screening tests for premalignant lesions, the cancer burden (as related to incidence and mortality) has been reported to be disproportionately high in many developing countries [3]. The reported epidemiologic characteristics may be inaccurate in many low-resource countries due to the deficiency of well-organized reporting systems. The Korea Central Cancer Registry (KCCR), a nationwide and hospitalbased cancer registry, has been operating since 1980. The statistical portal system containing data for cancer diseases constructed by KCCR is available and open to public via the Statistics Korea and National Cancer Center website [4,5]. This paper aims to review the epidemiologic characteristics of cervical cancer in Korean women based on these data and to emphasize the significance of screening test in decreasing the incidence of cervical cancer.