Cancer incidence and mortality in the Metropolitan Area of Bucaramanga, Colombia, 2013-2017.

Introduction: Cancer is a global public health problem. Population-Based Cancer Registries (PBCRs) are essential tools for characterizing the epidemiology of the disease and evaluating the impact of public health interventions aimed at controlling it. Aim: To estimate cancer incidence and mortality in the Metropolitan Area of Bucaramanga (AMB) during 2013-2017. Methods: Descriptive retrospective population-based study of incidence and mortality. Invasive cancer cases were obtained from the Population-Based Cancer Registry of the AMB database, and population and mortality data from the National Administrative Department of Statistics (DANE). Crude and age-standardized incidence and mortality rates were calculated, both overall and sex-specific. Results: During the study period, 11,815 incident cancer cases were recorded, excluding non-melanoma skin cancer. Age-standardized incidence rates per 100,000 person-years were 173.6 in men and 179.6 in women. The leading sites were prostate, stomach, and colorectal in men, and breast, thyroid, and colorectal in women. The age-standardized mortality rates were 117.56 per 100,000 man-years and 89.91 per 100,000 woman-years. Conclusion: Incidence and mortality rates for most sites are higher than those observed in the previous five-year periods. PBCRs are the main cancer surveillance tool and are essential for formulating and evaluating public cancer-control policies.