INTERPRETATION OF SECULAR INCREASES IN INCIDENCE RATES FOR PRIMARY BRAIN CANCER IN CONNECTICUT ADULTS, 1965-1988

Available summaries of radiology reports were examined among 899 prima ry brain cancer cases (age 40 years and older) diagnosed in Connecticu t residents in selected years from 1965 to 1988 and reported to the po pulation-based Connecticut Tumor Registry. Adjustment for the lower se nsitivities of radiologic tests used before the advent of computerized tomography (CT) suggested that the introduction of CT (by itself) cou ld account for little of the secular increase in brain cancer rates. E xamination of trends in age-standardized rates for histologically conf irmed brain cancers in the elderly, after excluding those diagnosed on ly by radiologic tests, did not support the idea that the secular tren d in the elderly was largely artifactual.