Abstract

MEDINA-MORALES, Frumencio  and  SALAZAR-FLORES, Margarita. The frequency and changing pattern of lung cancer in Mexico. Salud pública Méx [online]. 2000, vol.42, n.4, pp. 333-336. ISSN 0036-3634.  http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S0036-36342000000400008.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the frequency, histological type and the epidemiological pattern of lung cancer (LC), during a 40 year period, at the National Institute of Respiratory Diseases (iner). MATERIAL AND METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted in 1999. Data were abstracted from the INER's service reports for 1983-1996 and the surgical pathology archives for 1957-1996. Data from 1961 patients were analyzed, to obtain frequency measures on: the characteristics of INER LC patient admissions, age, sex, histological studies, specimens and diagnoses. RESULTS: Between 1983-1996, LC ranked eighth to second place in INER inpatient admissions. Results were grouped by decades. In the first two decades (1957-1976), 9% of patients were female; 32% in the third (1977-1986), and 38% in the last decade (1987-1996). Epidermoid cell carcinoma was more frequent in the two first decades (61%) and adenocarcinoma in the last two, (41% and 62%, respectively.) CONCLUSIONS: LC is currently more frequent in women, and adenocarcinoma is the most frequent neoplasia.

Keywords : lung neoplasms [anatomy & histology]; Mexico.