Cancer Screening in Korea, 2010: Results from the Korean National Cancer Screening Survey

To investigate the participation rates in gastric, liver, colorectal, breast, and cervical cancer screening in Korea, including both organised and opportunistic programmes, a nationwide interview survey using multi-stage random sampling was conducted in 2010. A total of 4,056 cancer-free men aged over 40 years and women aged 30 years participated. Lifetime screening rates ranged from 54.2% (liver cancer) to 79.5% (breast cancer) and rates of screening in accordance with guidelines ranged from 22.9% (liver cancer) to 65.1% (gastric cancer). Upper endoscopy was the preferred method for gastric cancer, whereas the faecal occult blood test was conducted most often for colorectal cancer. The main reason stated for non attendance was ‘no symptoms.’ To increase attendance at cancer-screening programmes, efforts to increase education and accessibility of screening programmes are necessary.