[Cancer mortality in Madrid, 1980-1984]

In order to assess whether the exclusion of the province of Madrid from the Spanish areas having a high risk of cancer mortality from most locations (1975-1978)--as opposed to what has been observed in other provinces with similar characteristics--has remained in subsequent years, mortality due to malignant tumors in Madrid in 1980-1984 has been studied. Standardized Mortality Ratios (SMR) yielded values less than 100, which were statistically significant for most locations. The magnitude of the SMR observed under the heading "malignant tumor of unspecified location" must be noted, both in men (206,34) and women (189,61). The evolution of this heading as a percentage of total cancer deaths shows that Madrid has values considerably over the national mean, also in men (11,87%) and women (14,83%). The aspects related to the filling of death certificates that could explain a possible distortion of the pattern of cancer mortality in Madrid are discussed.