Basic Facts of Breast Cancer in Korea in 2014: The 10-Year Overall Survival Progress

We, the Korean Breast Cancer Society (KBCS), present the facts and the trends of breast cancer in Korea in 2014. Data on the total number of newly diagnosed patients was obtained from the Korea Central Cancer Registry database, other data were collected from the KBCS online registry database, and the overall survival data of patients were updated from Statistics Korea. A total of 21,484 female patients were newly diagnosed with breast cancer in 2014. The crude incidence rate and the age-standardized incidence rate (ASR) of breast cancer in female patients, including carcinoma in situ, were 83.4 cases and 63.9 cases per 100,000 women, respectively. The ASR showed an annual increase of 6.1% from 1999 to 2014; however, although the increase of the ASR had slowed since 2008, the incidence rate itself continuously increased. The proportion of early breast cancer increased consistently, and the pathological features changed accordingly. While breast-conserving surgery was mainly performed, the proportion of total mastectomy was slightly increased. The total number of breast reconstruction surgeries increased rapidly. The 5-year and 10-year overall survival rates for all stages of breast cancer patients were 91.2% and 84.8%, respectively. The overall survival rate of Korean patients with breast cancer was extremely high, compared with other developed countries. Thus, we consider that the clinical characteristics of breast cancer have changed over the past decade. A nationwide registry data will contribute to a better understanding of the characteristics of breast cancer in Korea.