Burden of cancer in Serbia.

AIM

To provide a comprehensive assessment of burden of selected cancers in Serbia.

METHOD

We calculated disability adjusted life years (DALY)-- the sum of the years of life lost (YLL) from premature mortality and the years lived with disability (YLD)--for cancers of stomach, colon and rectum, lung, breast, and cervical cancer for central Serbia and Vojvodina, Serbia and Montenegro. The obtained values were compared with the corresponding values for European region as estimated by the World Health Organization. The study was conducted between October 2002 and September 2003. The cancer burden was estimated for the year 2000.

RESULTS

Observed cancers were responsible for 133,689 DALYs (73,197 for men and 60,482 for women). There were significantly more losses because of premature death than disease disability (95.2% vs 4.8% in men P<0.001, and 93.2% vs 6.8% in females, P<0.001). The cancer burden was dominated by lung cancer in men and breast cancer in women. The cancer burden was very small before the age of 35.

CONCLUSION

DALYs per 1000 population were higher in Serbia than in the European region for all observed cancers except for stomach cancer. The participation of a burden caused by disability in the total burden of selected cancers was lower in Serbia than in other European countries, with the greatest differences in colorectal, breast, and cervical cancers.