[Statistics and prehospital diagnosis of malignant neoplasms of upper respiratory tract in Russia].

In 1990 in Russia there were 12,264 newly diagnosed cases of upper respiratory tract cancer and 7562 relevant lethal cases. The authors provide data on such cancer incidence rate by site, groups of population, sex, age, type of tumor. Standardized incidence and mortality rates for various regions of Russia are indicative of the trend to the rates increase and relevant economic losses. The emphasis is on late diagnosis of ENT cancer, as 70-85% of the patients start anticancer treatment in advanced stages of the disease. This shows unsatisfactory situation in prehospital diagnosis of such tumors, numerous cases of misdiagnosis. The authors express their concern about poor oncological qualification of the practicing ENT specialists and urge improvements in current system of otorhinolaryngological training, performance of updated prophylactic and diagnostic measures.