Incidence and mortality of malignant tumours in Serbia: A comparative analysis

Abstract

After cardiovascular diseases, malignant tumours are the second leading cause of death across Europe. Given that Europe has a quarter of all cancer cases and less than 10% of the world's population, it is obvious that cancer poses a huge burden in the entire European region. A comparative analysis of the incidence of malignant tumours in Serbia and European countries in 2018 showed that men in Serbia most often suffered from malignant tumours of the prostate, lungs and bronchus, colon and rectum, while in women, malignant tumours were most often localized in the breast, lungs and bronchus, colon and rectum. Women in Europe most often suffered from malignant tumours of the breast, colon and rectum, and lungs and bronchus, while they most often died from the same tumours as the women in our country. Compared to the inhabitants of the European region, the population of Serbia has a higher incidence of morbidity and mortality from all leading cancers; exceptions can be observed in the structure of new patients with malignant prostate tumours, women with newly discovered breast cancers and men who died from liver cancer. For the majority of malignancy sites, the risk of cancer in Serbia is estimated as "moderate", and "low" for malignant prostate tumours. However, the observed increase in incidence for the most common malignancies could, in the next two decades, bring Serbian citizens into the ranks of European countries with a high risk of disease. Throughout Europe, the burden of cancer puts pressure on national health and social protection systems, state budgets and affects productivity and economic growth. National campaigns for health promotion and prevention of risk factors that are responsible for the occurrence of the most common malignant tumours and other non-communicable diseases, early detection and implementation of screening programs for malignant tumours, are the basis of the cancer control strategy, both in the old continent as a whole, and in Serbia.