THE MAGNITUDE OF THE LUNG CANCER PROBLEM IN CANADA

Available statistics were studied to define the extent of the lung cancer problem in Canada. Because of the low overall survival in treated and untreated cases at one year, mortality figures provide a rough index of morbidity from this disease.Male lung cancer death rates rose steadily from 3.0 to 24.6, and female rates from 1.6 to 4.0 per 100,000 population between 1931 and 1961. In males, the greatest increase occurred in the 70-74 year age group (eighteen-fold) and in females in the 80-84 year age group (seven-fold).Lung cancer caused 2774 deaths in Canada in 1961, and was the leading cause of cancer deaths for males in all age groups from 40 to 79 years. It accounted for approximately 1 in 5 of all cancer deaths in males and 1 in 26 in females.Lung cancer mortality in Canada has not increased to the same extent as in certain other countries, but to counter the rising trend, changes in the smoking habits of the population are required as well as community and industrial control of atmospheric carcinogens.