Data Resource Profile - The Cancer Public Library Database in South Korea - Comprehensive overview of CPLD

Sep 21, 2026

Cancer Res Treat 2024 provides a comprehensive profile of the Cancer Public Library Database (CPLD), created under the K-CURE project to link clinical and population-level cancer data. CPLD integrates four major sources—cancer incidence, cause-of-death, national health information, and insurance research records—using an encrypted resident registration number. The database covers 1,983,499 newly diagnosed cancer patients (2012–2019) and includes registration, death, demographics, claims, health checkups, and screening outcomes, supporting longitudinal research and care-continuum insights after approval via the K-CURE portal.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages13

Reading Time33 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Materials and Methods

Data sources

pISSN 1598-2998, eISSN 2005-9256 | [https://doi.org/10.4143/crt.2024.207](https://doi.org/10.4143/crt.2024.207) Cancer Res Treat. 2024;56(4):1014-1026

Special Article
Data Resource Profile: The Cancer Public Library Database in South Korea
Dong-Woo Choi1 , Min Yeong Guk1 , HyeRi Kim1 , Kwang Sun Ryu1,2 , Hyun-Joo Kong1 , Hyo Soung Cha1,2 , Hyun-Jin Kim1,2 , Heejung Chae1,3 , Young Sang Jeon4 , Hwanhee Kim4 , Jipmin Jung4 , Jeong-Soo Im1 , Kui Son Choi1,2
1National Cancer Control Institute, National Cancer Center, Goyang, 2Graduate School of Cancer Science and Policy, National Cancer Center, Goyang, 3Center for Breast Cancer, Research Institute and Hospital, National Cancer Center, Goyang, 4Division of Data Promotion, Korea Health Information Service, Seoul, Korea | | | --- | --- | | This paper provides a comprehensive overview of the Cancer Public Library Database (CPLD), established under the Korean Clinical Data Utilization for Research Excellence project (K-CURE). The CPLD links data from four major population-based public sources: the Korea National Cancer Incidence Database in the Korea Central Cancer Registry, cause-of-death data in Statistics Korea, the National Health Information Database in the National Health Insurance Service, and the National Health Insurance Research Database in the Health Insurance Review & Assessment Service. These databases are linked using an encrypted resident registration number. The CPLD, established in 2022 and updated annually, comprises 1,983,499 men and women newly diagnosed with cancer between 2012 and 2019. It contains data on cancer registration and death, demographics, medical claims, general health checkups, and national cancer screening. The most common cancers among men in the CPLD were stomach (16.1%), lung (14.0%), colorectal (13.3%), prostate (9.6%), and liver (9.3%) cancers. The most common cancers among women were thyroid (20.4%), breast (16.6%), colorectal (9.0%), stomach (7.8%), and lung (6.2%) cancers. Among them, 571,285 died between 2012 and 2020 owing to cancer (89.2%) or other causes (10.8%). Upon approval, the CPLD is accessible to researchers through the K-CURE portal. The CPLD is a unique resource for diverse cancer research to investigate medical use before a cancer diagnosis, during initial diagnosis and treatment, and long-term follow-up. This offers expanded insight into healthcare delivery across the cancer continuum, from screening to end-of-life care.
Key words Neoplasms, Public data, Database, Korea | | | Introduction | to establish an ecosystem for combining and utilizing clinical and public cancer data. The Cancer Public Library Database | | Recently, the increasing value of big data on cancer, driven | (CPLD), established under the K-CURE project, combines | | by advancements in information technology, has increased | data from four major population-based public sources: the | | its demand in cancer research [1] . However, the various | Korea National Cancer Incidence Database (KNCI DB) in the | | health and medical information being accumulated includes | Korea Central Cancer Registry (KCCR), cause-of-death data | | numerous sensitive individual health information, leading | in Statistics Korea, National Health Information Database | | to many privacy protection restrictions on the use of health- | (NHID) in the National Health Insurance Service (NHIS), and | | care big data. The Personal Information Protection Act was | National Health Insurance Research Database (NHIRD) in | | revised to promote data usage in 2020. Under the revised act, | the Health Insurance Review & Assessment Service (HIRA) . | | pseudonymized data that cannot identify individuals can | This study aimed to offer a comprehensive profile of CPLD | | be used for statistics, scientific research, and public records | data, highlighting its representation of the entire patient pop- | | without individual consent. Furthermore, an amendment to | ulation with cancer

FAQs

What is the Cancer Public Library Database (CPLD) used for?

CPLD provides linked cancer research data to investigate medical use before diagnosis, during initial diagnosis and treatment, and in long-term follow-up across the cancer care continuum.

Which public data sources are linked to build CPLD?

CPLD links data from four population-based sources: Korea National Cancer Incidence Database (KCCR), cause-of-death data from Statistics Korea, National Health Information Database (NHIS), and National Health Insurance Research Database (HIRA).

How is privacy protected when linking individual records in CPLD?

The linked databases use an encrypted resident registration number, and the framework is designed so pseudonymized data cannot identify individuals.

Sep 21, 2026

Uploaded by River Wang