No. of Koreans diagnosed with cancer rises in 2007

SEOUL, Dec. 21 (Yonhap) -- The number of people diagnosed with cancer in South
Korea rose in 2007 from a year earlier mainly due to an aging population and
enhanced medical technologies to detect the disease, a report showed Monday.

According to the report by the Ministry for Health, Welfare and Family Affairs,
cancer patients totaled 161,920 in 2007, up 5.6 percent from 153,237 the year
prior. The 2006 figure was up 5.1 percent from 2005.
Stomach cancer accounted for the largest share of the total, followed by thyroid
cancer, colon cancer, lung and liver cancer, according to the report.
Between 1999 and 2007, the number of new cancer diagnoses grew by an annual
average of 2.9 percent. The rate for women was 4.9 percent, far higher than 1.3
percent for males, the report showed.
kokobj@yna.co.kr
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