[Time-trends in cancer incidence and mortality in Japan]

The cancer incidence and mortality in Japan are described herein. The total number of deaths from all malignant neoplasms in 1998 was 284,000, corresponding to 30.3% of the total number of deaths among Japanese. Lung was the leading site of cancer deaths (17.9%), followed by the stomach (17.9%), large bowel (12.1%), liver (11.8%), pancreas (6.2%), gallbladder and extrahepatic biliary tract (5.2%), lymphatic tissue (3.7%), esophagus (3.4%), breast (3.1%), prostate (2.4%), leukemia (2.3%) and uterus (1.8%). The stomach was the leading site of cancer deaths until 1997, but was replaced by the lungs in 1998. The age-standardized mortality rates (1975-1998) have increased gradually for males, but decreased slightly for females. The rates have decreased remarkably for the stomach and uterus, while increasing for the lungs, large bowel, female breast, gallbladder and extrahepatic biliary tract, pancreas, and others. The total incidence for all cancers in Japan was estimated to be 454,000 in 1995. The stomach was the leading cancer site (22.2%), followed by the large bowel (17.7%), lung (11.6%), liver (7.8%), breast (6.6%), pancreas (3.7%), gallbladder and extrahepatic biliary tract (3.4%), lymphatic tissue (3.1%) and uterus (2.9%). The age-standardized incidence rates for all sites (1975-1995) have increased gradually for males, while remaining constant for females after a slight increase in the late 1970s. The incidence rates have decreased for the stomach and uterus, but increased for the large bowel, female breast, lung, liver, gallbladder and extrahepatic biliary tract, pancreas, prostate and others. The increase in the incidence rate was prominent for the large bowel, female breast and prostate.