Increased mortality from cancer of the respiratory system

The author reviews statistics of mortality from cancer of the respiratory system over the years 1949-52 in sixteen countries, first considering the general trend and then analysing the figures country by country. It is noted that the levels of recorded mortality from malignant tumours of the respiratory system differ considerably between countries, and that the death-rate from these causes has considerably risen, mainly in males, in all those countries in the course of the four years under study. The rise in recorded mortality in men has mainly been due to an increased number of tumours of the trachea, bronchus, and lungs. But the situation regarding mortality from these causes in women is not so clearly apparent. How much of the recorded increase is attributable to improved diagnosis and case-finding it is not yet possible to say.It is clear that cancer of the lung is becoming an important medical problem to which close attention must be paid.