Study links migration transition to changing cancer incidence patterns

North Korean defectors who resettled in South Korea share genetics but markedly contrasting early-life exposures with South Korean residents. Research published in the Journal of Internal Medicine compared overall and site-specific cancer incidence rates between North Korean defectors and native South Koreans.

Using the Korean National Health Insurance database, researchers matched 25,798 North Korean defectors and 1,276,601 South Korean residents. Defectors had higher risks of infection-related cancers (such as liver and cervical cancers) and lower risks of breast, colon, and prostate cancers (which are more prevalent in developed countries). Over time, though, their cancer profile changed, suggesting adaptation to South Korean society.

The study provides a model for understanding how cancer epidemiology evolves in such transitions, offering lessons that may help guide prevention and health planning for other vulnerable groups in transition worldwide."

Sin Gon Kim, MD, PhD, corresponding author, Korea University College of Medicine