Trends in lung cancer mortality rates in the provinces of Andalusia, Spain, 1975-2002

OBJECTIVE: To describe trends in lung cancer mortality rates in the different provinces of Andalusia, Spain, from 1975 through 2002. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Deaths from lung cancer during the period 1975 through 2002 were obtained from the Spanish national institute of statistics. Crude rates and age-adjusted rates (overall and truncated 35-64 year rates) were calculated. RESULTS: In Andalusia in 2002 there were 2802 deaths from lung cancer in men and 254 in women, representing 28.4% and 4.5%, respectively, of the mortality rate from tumors. Joinpoint regression analysis distinguished 3 recent trends in truncated (range, 35-64 years) lung cancer mortality rates in men: decrease in Sevilla, increase in Huelva and Jaen, and stability in the other provinces. For women there was a marked increase (5.2% annually) during the period 1988 through 2002 in Malaga. CONCLUSIONS: From a strategic point of view, antismoking strategies should target women in the province of Malaga in particular, with the aim of detaining their increasing risk for this type of cancer and of preventing avoidable and premature deaths among future generations of women.