Trends in Mortality and Morbidity of Uterine Cervix, Female Breast, and Ovarian Cancer in Korea.

Abstract

In Korea, leading causes of death have dramatically changed from infectious diseases to chronic degenerative illnesses, including malignant neoplasms since 1960. However, little is known about the long-term trends of female malignancies in Korea. This study was conducted to find epidemiological evidence of changes in mortality and morbidity of uterine cervix, female breast, and ovarian cancer through a long-term trends analysis with data representative of the Korean population. Age-standardized mortality rates of three female malignancies were markedly increasing throughout the observation period. Increment ratios in mortality were about two to five during the period 1981-1990. As a proxy estimate of incidence, age-standardized admission rates of female malignancies, as well as proportion index of admission due to each cancer to total admissions, showed a similar increasing trend from 1981 to 1990 in Korea. These results are highly suggestive of the view that both the mortality and morbidity for uterine cervix. female breast, and ovarian cancer must be increasing during the ten-year period since 1981 in Korea. Of the female malignancies, it is most likely that morbidity and mortality of uterine cervix cancer begin to decline after the end of the 19805 in Korea. Particularly noteworthy was a shift of the prevalent age for uterine cervix cancer to older women.