To measure incidence and survival rates of cancer in Kangwha County, 663 cancer patients registered in the Kangwha County Cancer Registry Program for the past 5 years (1983-1987) were analyzed. The average annual cancer incidence rate per 100,000 population was 183.0 in males and 99.5 in females. The common cancers were stomach (37.3%), lung (14.8%), and liver cancer (11.1%) in males and stomach (25.6%), cervix uteri (20.9%), and liver cancer (9.7%) in females. The median survival times of all cancer patients after diagnosis and onset of the first symptom were 8.4 ± 0.8 months and 15.0 ± 1.1 months respectively. Female cancer patients survived significantly longer than male cancer patients. The median survival times of the stomach, lung, and liver cancer in males were 7.7 ± 0.9, 4.9 ± 0.9, and 2.3 ± 0.4 months respectively. In females, the median survival times of the stomach and liver cancer patients were 9.2 ± 1.5 and 2.5 ± 0.5 months. The 5 year survival rate of cervical cancer was 67.1%. Those cancer patients who received anticancer therapy survived significantly longer than cancer patients without treatment.