Epidemiological characteristics of gastric cancer in Vojvodina.

Epidemiological characteristics of gastric cancer in the province of Vojvodina were analyzed on the basis of official data of the Cancer Registry of Vojvodina and the records of the Bureau of Census of Vojvodina for the years 1982-1991. In the year 1991, the cases of gastric cancer accounted for 7.8% of all malignant neoplasms in males, ranking thus third, whereas in females, with 5%, it was in seventh place. At the same time, in the structure of deaths from malignant neoplasms, gastric cancer was on the second place both in males (9.1%) and females (7.8%). The male/female gastric cancer mortality ratio was 1.7:1. Incidence and mortality rates showed the tendency of a slow but steady decrease in both sexes during the observation period. The age-standardized incidence rate (world population) was 25.9 per 100,000 for men and 9.4 for women in average. In comparison with the corresponding data of the registries of Europe and of the world, Vojvodina falls in the range of moderately high rates. The age-specific incidence and mortality rates show a strong increase after the age of 55, reaching the highest values in the ages 75-79. Thus it can be said that gastric cancer is a disease of the elderly. Total five-year survival is low, which is a common observation for this kind of neoplasm.