Cancer incidence trends in urban Shanghai, 1972-1994: An update

Incidence rates for a number of cancers in urban Shanghai, China, have been changing markedly. Herein we update the trends using population-based data from the Shanghai Cancer Registry for 1972-1994. During 1993-1994, cancers of the lung, stomach, and liver were the 3 leading forms among men, with a ge-adjusted (world standard) incidence rates of 50.9, 39.2, and 26.5 per 10 0,000 person-years, respectively, followed by cancers of the colon (12.4) a nd esophagus (10.0). Among women, cancers of the breast (27.5), stomach (19 .1), and lung (17.7) were the most common tumors, followed by cancers of th e colon (11.3) and liver (9.4). Over the 23-year period, the rate for all c ancers combined, excluding nonmelanoma skin cancer, decreased from 247.5 to 215.2 among men and from 173.6 to 154.0 among women. However, trends for i ndividual forms of cancer varied considerably. Rates doubled for cancers of the colon and biliary tract in both sexes, and they increased substantiall y for cancers of the brain and nervous system, kidney, pancreas, prostate, corpus uteri, female breast, and ovary, and for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Rat es for cancers of the lung and rectum changed little. Rates declined by at least one-half for cancers of the esophagus and cervix, with notable decrea ses also for cancers of the stomach and liver. Some of these trends may ref lect variations in diagnostic or screening practices, although changes in l ifestyle and other environmental exposures are likely to play important rol es. Further epidemiologic research in China is needed to identify risk fact ors influencing the cancer incidence trends. Int. J. Cancer 83:435-440, 199 9. (C) 1999 Wiley-Liss, Inc.