BREAST-CANCER PREVALENCE MEASURED BY THE LOMBARDY CANCER REGISTRY

Aims and background: Breast cancer is the most important malignant neo plasm affecting women in Western countries. An increasing number of wo men undergo regular medical check ups, especially during the first yea rs following the diagnosis. Therefore, from the health planning point of view, it is essential to have prevalence measures to furnish estima tes for the demands that the health care system could possibly undergo . Methods: By means of PREVAL, a computerized program, breast cancer p revalence has been measured in the Varese province using incidence and follow-up data from the Lombardy Cancer Registry (LCR). Results: Duri ng the 1986-1988 period, breast cancer prevalence for patients alive w ithin 10 years from diagnosis was about 625 per 100,000 resident women . Of these, 54% were over 60 years and 9% were under 45 years of age. Patients alive within 2 years from diagnosis were about 200 per 100,00 0 residents; considering the 1978-1980 period, patients alive within 2 years from diagnosis were just 140 per 100,000 residents. This dramat ic Increase in breast cancer prevalence is present also for long-term survivors (i.e. patients alive at 10-13 years from the diagnosis). Ext rapolating breast cancer prevalence measured in the Varese province to the whole Lombardy region, the expected number of prevalent cases ali ve within 10 years of the diagnosis, presently living in Lombardy, wou ld be 27,500. LCR's breast cancer prevalence figures were compatible w ith available data provided by the Finnish Cancer Registry. Conclusion : Owing to aging of the population, the improvement in survival and th e increasing incidence, the number of prevalent cases will increase. T his phenomenon has and will have great importance for the health plann ing.