The status of radiation therapy in Korea

Abstract

Several reports on cancer statistics in Korea have recently been published, but little attention has been paid to the utilization of radiation therapy and the actual radiation therapist and how this compares with modem requirements and current trends. This article summarizes data on the status of radiation therapy facilities, manpower, megavoltage units, patient load, types of procedures performed, and characteristics of the patients treated, based on the survey data conducted by The Korean Society of Therapeutic Radiology (KSTR) between 1987 and 1993. The incidence of cancer is rising in Korea, and cancer appears as the most common cause of death, accounting for 20.8% of all deaths in 1993. The cancer incidence rate per year in Korea is approximately 125.6 per 100,000 people, and the population is currently approximately 45 million (1). Approximately 60,000 newly diagnosed cancer patients were predicted in 1993. The top five major sites of cancers were the stomach, liver, lung, colorectum, and gall bladder for men and the uterine cervix, stomach, breast, colorectrum, and liver for women. The proportion of patients with stomach cancer and hepatoma, in which radiation therapy is not frequently performed during the course of their illness, is about 40% (Table 1). Therefore, it may be assumed that approximately 35-40% of all cancer patients will receive radiation therapy in Korea (2-4). Since 1986, the Korean Society of Therapeutic Radiology has conducted a national survey on the structures of radiation therapy facilities for a complete census of facilities in Korea (2). The purpose of this article is to review the current status of radiation therapy and to evaluate radiation therapy activities by assessing the referral rates, the number of treatment machines available, and radiation therapists in Korea.