Chances of detecting liver cancer are 2.5 times higher for those who have regular checkups than those who do not, a report showed Sunday.
Those who have regular medical examinations are also 24 percent less likely to die from this type of cancer than those who do not, according to the report of the state-run National Evidence-based Healthcare Collaborating Agency, which analyzed statistics of the state-sponsored checkups of liver cancer done by the National Health Insurance Service since 2003.
Liver cancer is the second-biggest cause of death from cancer in South Korea after lung cancer.
 |
(Yonhap) |
It is the largest cause of death among those in their 40s and 50s.
"We found that those who regularly had medical checkups detected liver cancer earlier while having less mortality risk," professor Kwon Jin-won of Kyungpook National University said.
The proportion of people having state-sponsored medical checkups for liver cancer rose gradually to 41.16 percent in 2014 from 2.41 percent in 2004 and 18.03 in 2009. (Yonhap)
