Trends and patterns in lung cancer incidence in four cities of Eastern Europe, 1971-1980.

The trends of age-adjusted and age-specific lung cancer incidence rates showed over the period of 1971-1980 substantial differences in four selected towns of Eastern Europe. The downward age-adjusted trends in males coincided in Berlin with the possible beginning of their downturn in the whole country, while their decline in both sexes in Bratislava could be related to the change of demographis factors. In the other two towns studied--Cracow and Tallinn--the substantial increase of lung cancer incidence in males corresponded with the similar evolution in both respective countries (Poland and Estonia). The rising trends in females in both mentioned towns could be more or less compared with their dramatic increase in some developed countries. The rising trends of age-specific rates in younger age groups of males do not indicate meanwhile the positive influence of low-tar or filter-tipped cigarettes on lung cancer incidence in males observed recently in some countries.