From Friday, the Ministry of Health and Welfare, the National Cancer Center, and the Korea Health Information Service will significantly expand cancer public data and make it publicly available through the Korea-Clinical Data Utilization Network for Research Excellence (K-CURE) portal.

The data to be released is the “Cancer Public Library” built as part of the K-CURE project, which will also jointly host a contest utilizing the data. The K-CURE Cancer Public Library opened in 2023 with 1.98 million data (2012-2019) and expanded to 2.26 million (2012-2020) in June last year. The observation period was then updated from 2012 to 2022, from 2007 to 2023, and lung and pancreatic cancers were included in the sample database, along with stomach, breast, colorectal, and liver cancer

The data on 2.61 million cancer patients is linked to cancer registry data from the Korea Central Cancer Registry, eligibility, and screening information from the National Health Insurance Service, medical claims data from the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service, death information from Statistics Korea, and Covid-19 information from the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency.

The opening also adds information on child and adolescent cancer patients under 20, providing a foundation for childhood cancer research, according to the National Cancer Center.

The data is now available with a stratified random sampling of about 20 percent of the total by cancer type. This is representative and easy to analyze and is designed to enable researchers to analyze the entire cycle of cancer registration, screening, treatment, and death in an integrated manner.

The 3rd K-CURE Cancer Public Library Utilization Contest will also be held. Anyone can participate after applying on the contest website by 4 p.m. on July 15.

Ten teams selected through document evaluation will receive public specimen data of six major cancer types and the National Cancer Data Center's remote analysis environment. Data analysis results and evaluation will be conducted, and the final results and awards will be announced on Sept. 19 at the National Cancer Center.

“This contest has expanded the scope of participation so that anyone interested in utilizing cancer data can have the opportunity to analyze data,” said Baek Young-ha, head of the Healthcare Data Promotion Division at the Ministry of Health and Welfare. “We expect the contest will accumulate experience in medical data-based research and make data flow more smoothly.”

Yang Han-kwang, director of the National Cancer Center, said, “By continuously expanding and upgrading the cancer public library data established under the Cancer Control Act, we will strengthen the research foundation for the entire cancer cycle, from prevention to diagnosis and treatment, and make a qualitative leap in domestic cancer research.”

Yeom Min-seob, the president of the Korea Health Information Service, said, “This contest provides practical analysis experience using cancer public data. We expect it will serve as an opportunity to expand the scope of analysis, including lung and pancreatic cancer, and ease the threshold for participation, thereby broadening the base of data-driven healthcare research.”