Korea MSD Conducts In-House Training Campaign in November for 'Stomach Cancer Awareness Month'

Korea MSD announced on the 29th that it held an in-house event called ‘Stomach Study, We are happy (위 Study, We are happy)’ in November to mark ‘Stomach Cancer Awareness Month’.

[Photo by MSD Korea]

Every November is designated as Stomach Cancer Awareness Month to raise awareness of the deadly stomach cancer and to provide education and patient support for prevention and early diagnosis. This was established in 2010 by the global patient community ‘No Stomach For Cancer.’ Korea MSD, sympathizing with this purpose, held an in-house event with its employees to increase understanding of stomach cancer and encourage the practice of lifestyle habits that help prevent stomach cancer and promote stomach health.

Stomach cancer ranks third in cancer incidence excluding thyroid cancer and fourth in cancer mortality in South Korea. High salt intake and Helicobacter pylori infection are known as major risk factors for stomach cancer. Especially in East Asia, the incidence rate is high, with about 75% of new stomach cancer cases occurring in Asia. South Korea is also known as the third country worldwide with the highest incidence of stomach cancer.

Soo-jung Kim, Executive Director of the Medical Department at Korea MSD, warned, “Stomach cancer tends to progress slowly over several years and has almost no early symptoms, so it is mostly detected after it has advanced. More than 70% of stomach cancer patients develop advanced disease, and the 5-year survival rate for distant metastasis is only 6.7%.” She added, “Therefore, early detection through regular screenings such as gastroscopy is important, and it is also necessary to block risk factors for stomach cancer by maintaining a healthy low-salt diet. Additionally, about 10-30% of all stomach cancer patients are positive (+) for human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2), and about 70-90% are negative (-), so biomarker testing for appropriate treatment at diagnosis is also required.”

Korea MSD provided educational lectures on the current status of stomach cancer in Korea, risk factors, biomarkers identified in stomach cancer, screening, and prevention methods to ensure employees acquire accurate information about stomach cancer. The educational content was posted on the Seoul office and the company’s internal online network. Through a stomach cancer awareness test, employees had the opportunity to solve questions related to stomach cancer themselves, enhancing their understanding of the disease. They also wrote down lifestyle habits to add (+) or reduce (-) for stomach health, strengthening their commitment to stomach cancer prevention.

Min-hee Lee, Executive Director of the Oncology Business Unit at Korea MSD, stated, “As of 2020, more than one million new stomach cancer patients were reported worldwide, and in East Asia, it ranks third in cancer mortality, making it a deadly disease. Through this in-house event held in November for Stomach Cancer Awareness Month, employees had a meaningful time to correctly understand stomach cancer, which can threaten life, and pledge to practice healthy lifestyle habits.” She continued, “Korea MSD will continue its efforts to expand treatment benefits and improve treatment environments through relentless research on cancers and diseases with high unmet needs and fatal outcomes, including stomach cancer.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.