[Incidence of respiratory tract system tumors in Italy: data from the Tumor Registry].

Nine population-based cancer Registries are active in Italy, covering about one tenth of the population. Six Registries (Torino, Varese, Trieste, Genova, Parma, and Forlì) are located in the North of Italy, two Registries (Firenze and Latina) in the Center and one (Ragusa) in the South. Incidence data (total number of registered cases; age-specific, age-standardized, truncated, and cumulative rates) and indices of reliability (% of cases with histological verification of diagnosis; % of cases registered only as a result of death certification; and mortality/incidence ratio) are tabulated for the period 1983-87. Respiratory tumors are classified according to the three-digit codes of the International Classification of Diseases, ninth revision: 160, nose and sinuses; 161, larynx; 162, lung; 163, pleura. Standardized incidence rates for lung cancer range between 48.8 x 10,0000 (Ragusa) and 115.3 (Trieste). All the Registries in the North and in the Center show high levels of risk; rates are reduced to half for the two southern Registries. Laryngeal tumors show a similar pattern: the highest rate is observed at Trieste (21.1), and the lowest is for Ragusa (10.1). The risk of primitive pleural cancer is very high for Trieste (6.1) and Genova (5.3), where the shipyard industry is present, and homogeneously low for the other Registries. Frequency of nasal tumor is too low to establish descriptive comparisons. As a whole, for larynx, lung, and pleura, the figures from incidence data confirm those from mortality data.