Epidemiology of malignant tumours of the gastrointestinal tract in the Czech Republic – state of the art and prediction

Summary

Malignant tumours of the gastrointestinal tract (GIT) represent, from the epidemiological point of view, a hetero­geneous group that includes cancer diagnoses both frequent (colorectal or pancreatic carcinoma) and rare (GIST, liver, small intestine and anal cancer, neuroendocrine tumours of the GIT). GIT tumours significantly contribute to the total cancer burden of the Czech population, which is also documented by international comparisons (3^rd place in incidence and 8^th place in mortality in Europe). According to the Czech National Cancer Registry data, 14,479 new GIT tumours were diagnosed and 9,122 patients died in 2009. Incidence of all GIT tumours has increased by 5% since 1999, while mortality has fallen by 7% in the same period. The trends therefore show prolonged survival of Czech patients. Improved 5-year relative survival in the period 2005–2009 has been documented particularly for oesophagus and colorectal carcinoma (7–10%) in comparison to periods before 1999; a moderate improvement has also been recorded for stomach cancer (5.5%). On the other hand, relative survival has not shifted in the last ten years for malignant tumours of the liver, intrahepatic bile ducts, gallbladder and pancreas. Increasing incidence, together with stable or decreasing mortality, has resulted in the rising prevalence of GIT tumours, which reached 58,343 persons in 2009.

Key words:
malignant tumours – digestive tract – epidemiology

The authors declare they have no potential conflicts of interest concerning drugs, products, or services used in the study.

The Editorial Board declares that the manuscript met the ICMJE „uniform ­requirements“ for biomedical papers.

Submitted:
14. 9. 2012

Accepted:
4. 10. 2012