title: Time trends in cancer mortality in central Serbia.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To examine cancer mortality trends in Central Serbia (1985-2002).
  
  
  METHODS
  Cancer mortality rates were based on the official death certificates (n=192849). They were standardized for age and sex.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In the observed period, mortality rates showed a tendency to increase in both males (y = 118.54 + 2.27x, p = 0.0001) and females (y = 83.32 + 1.02x, p = 0.0001). Mortality of lung cancer increased in both sexes (y = 32.38 + 0.86x, p < 0.001 for males, y = 6.25 + 0.25y, p < 0.001 for females), as did colorectal cancer (y = 10.87 + 033x, p < 0.001 for males, y = 8.51 + 0.09x, p < 0.05 for females). Breast cancer mortality rates increased (y = 14.48 + 0.35x, p = 0.0001), and so did cervical cancer (y = 5.14 + 0.14x, p < 0.01). Mortality of gastric cancer in males has been moderately decreasing after 1990s (y(19902002) = 13.67-0.20x, p < 0.01), while prostate cancer mortality remained relatively stable.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Increasing cancer mortality trends in the last 18 years in Central Serbia indicate the extremely urgent needs for health authorities to adopt measures of cancer prevention that proved effective in other countries.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Epidemiology Faculty of Medicine, University of Belgrade, Serbia & Montenegro. denic@eunet.yu
authors.forename: Ljiljana
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Markovic-Denic
authors.forename: Snezana
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zivkovic
authors.forename: Sandra
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sipetic
authors.forename: Hristina
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Vlajinac
authors.forename: Nikola
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kocev
authors.forename: Jelena
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Marinkovic
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality; D015179:Colorectal Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality; D003644:Death Certificates; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality; D008297:Male; D009026:Mortality / Q000639:trends*; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality*; D011471:Prostatic Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality; D012737:Sex Factors; D012907:Smoking / Q000453:epidemiology; D013274:Stomach Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality; D002583:Uterine Cervical Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality; D015022:Yugoslavia / Q000453:epidemiology