[Incidence of cancer of the breast and the female genital system in the province of Zaragoza, 1975-1984].
BACKGROUND
Cancer of the breast and female genital organs represents 40% of the tumors found in women. Registers of cancer on a population base constitutes a basic source of information for measuring the incidence of these tumors in the population.


METHODS
The magnitude of cancer of the breast and female genital organs was analyzed in the province of Zaragoza during the period 1975-1984 according to the different geographic areas in the province. The rate of incidence, accumulated incidence and the rate of incidence adjusted by age were calculated. The source of information used was the Register of Cancer of Zaragoza.


RESULTS
The rate of incidence observed for these tumors was found to be 84 per 100,000 women/year with breast cancer representing 58% of the cases. The truncated rates were higher than the rates of incidence except for the localization of other genital organs indicating a greater frequency of these tumors at intermediate ages. In Zaragoza, the capital city, an excess of incidence was found for most of the localizations studied. This may be explained by the existence of greater frequency of these tumors in urban areas. In the capital this excess was not observed for unspecified cancer of the uterus. This may be due to the greater precision of diagnosis in the capital than in the rest of the province because of the availability of health care centers.


CONCLUSIONS
In the province of Zaragoza, cancer of the breast is most frequent than cancer of any of the other female genital organs. The greatest frequency of these neoplasms was found at an intermediate age. In Zaragoza city, a greater frequency of cancer was registered than in the rest of the province. These results are of interest for the proposal of programs for prevention and control.
Martos Jiménez
M C
MC
Escuela Universitaria de Enfermería, Universidad de Zaragoza.
Tomás Aznar
C
C
Gómez López
L I
LI
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D005833:Genital Neoplasms, Female / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008875:Middle Aged; D013030:Spain / Q000453:epidemiology
Incidencia del cáncer de mama y del aparato genital femenino en la provincia de Zaragoza, 1975-1984.