Incidence rates of prostate cancer in Bulgaria during the period 1967-1981

The age- and residence-specific incidence rates of prostate cancer in Bulgaria have been studied for a fifteen-year period (1967-1981). Actual and standardized incidence and the cumulative incidence rates and risk have been determined and the secular trend of the standardized incidence rates has been defined by a linear regressive model. It has been found out that 90 percent of the new cases were over 60 years of age. The urban population was more strongly affected by the disease than the rural one, but the upward of the incidence rates was more pronounced among the latter. The annual increase in the incidence rates was 0.11 +/- 0.06 per 100,000 men. The risk of prostate cancer to the male population (cumulative risk) from 0 to 84 years of age was 2.54 percent, i.e. one out of forty men was at risk. The incidence rates were significantly higher in these districts of the country, where the largest and the most strongly industrialized towns were concentrated. The study gives the possibility to determine some characteristics of the incidence rates of prostate cancer in Bulgaria and hence to assess the efficiency of cancer control and to formulate some of its future trends.