Cancer is the most frequent cause of death in both developing and developed countries, including Korea. The aim of this study was to present survival rates of Korean cancer patients. Survival analysis was carried out with data collected under the Korea Central Cancer Registry Program, which included all cancer patients diagnosed from January 1, 1997 to December 31, 1997. We have analyzed the effects of age at diagnosis and sex on cancer survival from the cancer registry data of 64,240 Korean patients diagnosed of cancer in 1997. The overall survival rate of all Korean cancer patients (both men and women) was 67% at 1 yr and 57% at 2 yr. The 1- and 2-yr survival rates for all cancers in men were 58% and 47%, respectively, while those in women were 77% and 69%, respectively. Men had a lower survival rate than women in most malignancies. The pancreatic cancer was shown the lowest 1-yr survival rate.