[Book Sip] Thyroid Cancer Survival Rate 100.1%... "Lived Longer Than Non-Patients"

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Cancer, which has a long history traceable back to ancient Egyptian documents around 3000 BC, was considered a death sentence until recently. However, with advances in medical science, survival rates have improved, and the fear of death has lessened compared to the past. Nevertheless, it remains a clear object of fear. The author interviewed 50 cancer specialists nationwide over three years. The book introduces the causes, diagnostic methods, and treatments of the top 10 cancers commonly affecting Koreans, including lung cancer, colorectal cancer, stomach cancer, breast cancer, prostate cancer, liver cancer, pancreatobiliary cancer (pancreatic cancer, bile duct cancer), gynecologic cancers, thyroid cancer, and hematologic cancers (leukemia, malignant lymphoma).

The doctors I met on the front lines were full of confidence. Kim Young-tae, head of the Lung Cancer Center at Seoul National University Hospital (currently the hospital director), said, “The war against lung cancer is almost a full-scale battle. And in that fight, the medical staff have begun to gain the upper hand.” Hearing that made me want to dance. Today, the medical community has made remarkable progress in overcoming lung cancer. Lung cancer, which was once tantamount to a death sentence, now has improved survival rates thanks to the discovery of new treatments, and even stage 4 patients can find hope.

Stage 2 lung cancer, for example, means that cancer cells, or the ‘enemy troops gathered at Seoul National University Hospital,’ were also found during inspection at the ‘Hyehwa-dong Rotary’ outside the hospital gate. In other words, if cancer cells are found in the lymph nodes inside the lung, it is stage 2. If cancer cells are also found in the lymph nodes in the mediastinum, a space near the bronchus, it corresponds to stage 3A. It can be seen as cancer cells originating from Seoul National University Hospital spreading outside, passing Hyehwa-dong Rotary, and advancing as far as near Seoul Station.

At that time, the general public’s perception of new drug clinical trials was not favorable. Professor Lee Ki-hyung trained as an oncologist at Seoul National University Hospital and came to Chungbuk National University Hospital in 1996. Interested in clinical trials, he sought patients to participate. He once got scolded after encouraging a lung cancer patient to join a trial. The patient angrily said, “Are you trying to experiment on humans like animals? This is why you shouldn’t come to university hospitals.” However, a few years later, the atmosphere changed rapidly. Patients’ perceptions shifted. Nowadays, some patients deliberately seek out hospitals with many clinical trials.

The first report revealing the status of cancer incidence among Koreans was published in 1929 during the Japanese colonial period. Alfred Irving Ludlow, a surgeon at Severance Hospital, published a paper in the ‘Chinese Medical Journal,’ through which we obtained information about cancers Koreans suffered from 100 years ago. Ludlow stated in the paper that stomach cancer was the most common among cancer patients admitted and treated at Severance Hospital, overwhelmingly more than the second (uterine cancer) and third (penile cancer) most common cancers. On November 6, 1934, an article titled “What kind of disease is cancer?” was published in the Dong-A Ilbo, confirming that stomach cancer was the most common cancer at the time.

The starting point of anticancer drugs was nitrogen mustard gas, a biochemical weapon used by the German army during World War I. Many British and French soldiers died, and autopsies revealed that their bone marrow and lymph nodes were severely depleted. Their skin also blistered and peeled. Observing the depletion of skin, bone marrow, and lymph nodes, it was understood that nitrogen mustard gas targets rapidly dividing cells. The idea arose that if this biochemical weapon were used as a drug, it might kill rapidly growing cancer cells. This led to the development of anticancer drugs.

There is something called an albumin injection. When my grandmother and mother were exhausted from fatigue, they went to the hospital to receive albumin injections. Remembering this, I asked Professor Yoo, who said, “You shouldn’t receive albumin injections indiscriminately.” If liver function is impaired, the cause should be identified and improved; simply supplementing albumin because it is deficient is not appropriate. Nevertheless, large advertisements for albumin still appear prominently in newspapers. Ads saying, “Are you losing strength? Always tired? Could it be albumin deficiency?” are easily seen. There is a significant gap between doctors’ advice and pharmaceutical marketing.

The actual fatality rate of thyroid cancer is not high. The number of deaths was 326 in 2002 and 365 in 2020, remaining in the 300s, and it does not appear on the list of the top 10 cancers with high mortality rates. Also, the 5-year relative survival rate (2018?2022) is 100.1%. I was surprised because I couldn’t understand how the survival rate could exceed 100%. Upon researching, a survival rate over 100% means that people diagnosed with thyroid cancer live longer than the general population without thyroid cancer. This is the result of patients taking better care of their bodies after diagnosis. The fact that people live longer after being diagnosed with thyroid cancer is a paradoxical story.

Cancer, Asking Doctors in Detail | Written by Choi Jun-seok | Sejong Books | 400 pages | 21,000 KRW