The Samsung Medical Center's (SMC) gynecological cancer center said Tuesday the number of gynecologic cancer cases treated at the hospital exceeded 10,000 at the end of last year.

According to the hospital, there were 4,380 cases of uterine cervical cancer, 3,444 cases of ovarian cancer, 1,946 cases of endometrial cancer and 513 cases of other cancers registered by Dec. 31, 2016.

The recorded number of cases averages out to 428 patients annually with a total of 10,283 patients treated for gynecological cancer at the hospital.

Samsung Medical Center

Gynecologic cancer patients are steadily increasing. In 2013, the number of registered patients with the hospital exceeded 700 for the first time. In 2016, 736 women with gynecological cancer visited the hospital.

In particular, the number of patients with ovarian cancer increased drastically, with 307 patients registered, a 23.2 percent increase from 2012.

According to data published by the National Cancer Information Center in 2014, SMC treats approximately 12 percent of the 2,413 new ovarian cancer patients.

The hospital also reported that the five-year survival rate of patients treated from the earlier stage of the cancer was higher than the national average. Five-year relative survival rates between 2010 and 2014 were 85.9 percent for cervical cancer, 65.9 percent for ovarian cancer, and 90.1 percent for endometrial cancer.

The national average in the same period was 79.7 percent for cervical cancer, 64.1 percent for ovarian cancer and 87.9 percent for endometrial cancer.

The hospital said that it had worked to preserve the fertility and develop minimally invasive surgery methods to minimize the scarring of the operation, which is crucial for gynecological cancer patients.

It plans to expand investment and research support to raise the survival rate and lower the recurrence rate.

“SMC 삼성서울병원 is proud to have treated over 10,000 cancer patients, who showed high survival rates,” said Lee Jung-won 이정원, the head of SMC’s gynecological cancer center. “We will do our best to improve the survival rate and quality of life of cancer patients.”

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