North Korea Must be Global Scale Cohort, Not a Galapagos in the Medical Research Field.

Objective

This study aimed to compare the research trend regarding gynecologic malignancies in North Korean medical journal and South Korean medical journal.

Methods

Articles published in the journal of “Pediatrics, Obstetrics, and Gynecology” in North Korea and “Obstetrics & Gynecology Science” in South Korea from 2006 to 2016 were analyzed by using frequency analysis. Studies on gynecologic malignancies were classified by international classification of disease (ICD-10).

Results

Out of 3361 reviewed articles, 116 articles published in North Korean journal and 519 articles published in South Korean medical journal were classified as gynecologic oncology. We found a distinct difference between North and South Korean medical journals regarding research trends on gynecologic oncology. The proportions of gestational trophoblastic disease, cervical cancer, and anogenital warts were higher in North Korean medical journal, but proportions of ovarian cancer, fallopian tube cancer, peritoneal cancer, corpus uterine cancer, and vulvar cancer were higher in South Korean medical journal.

Conclusion

This study enforced an analysis of research trends on gynecologic malignancies in North Korean and South Korea medical journals, and a distinct difference was observed in this regard. In the future, grand scale cohort study in the genetic identical two Korean population is needed for research of environmental effect on gynecologic cancer.