Cancer Patients in 1997 Numbered 78,800, 9 % Rise

It was revealed on May 2 that the number of cancer patients reported in 1997 totaled 78,800, a nine-percent rise from the previous year.
The Minisry of Health and Welfare released its cancer report which states stomach cancer accounts for 21 percent of all cancer victims in 1997, followed by liver cancer(11.6 percent) and lung(11.3 percent) and uterine cancer(9 percent).
The patient ratio by sex was 55 male versus 45 female and the most frequent cancer type among men was stomach cancer(26 percent of all male patients) whereas uterine cancer afflicted women the most with 20 percent.
The mortality rate from the disease among 100,000 people in Korea was 115 in 1997, which is much less when compared to Germany(262), France(246), the U.S.(204), and Japan(190).
An official at the Ministry warned that cancer patients in the nation are growing because of environmental changes and the increasing consumption of meat.
Shang-bok Shim : simsb@joongang.co.kr