Incidence and mortality from breast cancer in the male and female population of Central Serbia in the period 2009-2020

Abstract

Introduction/Aim: In 2020, breast cancer is the leading cause of morbidity globally when considering both sexes together, followed by prostate cancer and lung cancer. However, breast cancer is very rare in men. In this descriptive study, incidence and mortality from breast cancer was analyzed in the population of men and women in Central Serbia for the period from 2009 to 2020. Methods: Data on patients and deaths from breast cancer, as well as the number of inhabitants, by gender and age, were taken from published and unpublished material of the Institute for Public Health of Serbia "Dr. Milan Jovanović Batut". General, specific and standardized incidence and mortality rates were used in the analysis. Joinpoint regression analysis was used to analyze trends in morbidity and mortality. Results: In the period 2009-2020. In 2010, the average standardized incidence rate (per 100,000) for breast cancer was 1.3 for men and 65.3 for women, and the average mortality rate (per 100,000) was 0.4 for men and 19.8 for women. During the observed period, the standardized incidence rate for men increased by 1.9% per year and the mortality rate by 2.4%, but without significance. In women, the standardized incidence rate increases significantly by 3.5% per year in the period 2013-2020, and the standardized mortality rate significantly decreases by -0.5% per year in the period 2009-2020. years. In both sexes, mortality and incidence rates increased with age, except that in women the incidence rate for the age of 70 and over was lower compared to the incidence rate for the age of 60-69. Conclusion: It is necessary to further improve the implementation of organized screening for breast cancer in women in the territory of Central Serbia, to work on the reduction and/or elimination of risk factors, as well as on raising the awareness of men that there is a possibility that they can also get breast cancer.