Lung cancer incidence and mortality trends in the Republic of Belarus (1990-2019)
Relevance: Lung cancer is one of the most frequent and unfavorable malignant diseases globally. The Republic of Belarus ranks third (8.2%) in cancer incidence and first (21.5%) in cancer mortality. The object of the study was the lung cancer incidence and mortality trends in the Republic of Kazakhstan in 1990-2019. Results: In the study period, the standardized incidence rate decreased from 27.5 to 25.6 per 100 000 population (- 7.1%, p<0.01). In males, it decreased from 62.1 to 54.6 per 100 000 males (- 12.1%, p<0.001); in females, it increased from 5.3 to 6.4 per 100 000 females (+20.7%, p<0.05). The standardized lung cancer mortality rate has decreased over the study period from 23.0 to 18.3 per 100 000 population (- 20.4%, p<0.001). In males, it went down from 53.6 to 40.7 (- 24.1%, p<0.001), and in women it changed slightly from 3.6 to 3.7 (+ 2.8%, p>0.05) per 100 000 of the relevant sex. The average annual increase in standardized mortality decreased eight times faster than the growth in standardized incidence. Conclusion: In the Republic of Belarus, lung cancer incidence is increasing in males and decreasing in females. At that, lung cancer mortality is decreasing. Quality specialized cancer care creates conditions for quicker negative growth of lung cancer standardized mortality vs. incidence.