Trends in Incidence and Mortality by Ovarian Cancer in Latin American Countries

Abstract

Introduction: Ovarian cancer is the seventh most common and the ninth cause of death by cancer in women worldwide. In Latin America, cancer is the second cause of death and projections indicate a probable growth of the number of deaths between 2012 and 2035. Objective: To analyze the trends of incidence and mortality by ovarian cancer in Latin American countries. Method: Ecological time series study, with incidence data extracted from the International Agency for Research on Cancer, from 1990 to 2012 and mortality data from 17 countries of the World Health Organization, from 1995 to 2013. An incidence trend was analyzed by the Joinpoint regression. The average annual percentage change (AAPC) and the 95% confidence interval were calculated for incidence and mortality. Results: The highest incidence rates of ovarian cancer were observed in Cali (Colombia) and Goiânia (Brazil) in the age group older than 60 years. There was a tendency towards stability in most countries, except in Goiânia (Brazil), in the age group from 60-74 years old, with an increasing trend (AAPC: 3.4%; 95% CI: 0.3; 6.6). The highest rate of mortality by ovarian cancer occurred in Uruguay for the age group of 60-74 years and the lowest, in Belize and Guatemala, for the age group of 0-39 years. Conclusion: The incidence of ovarian cancer in Latin America has remained stable in most countries. In some, as Brazil, increase of mortality rates was observed.