[Trends in cancer mortality among young adults aged 20-49 years in Spain: 1999-2022]

Cancer is one of the main causes of death in Spain. However, data on cancer mortality in the young adult population are scarce. The aim of this study was to analyze the development of cancer mortality among adults aged 20-49 between 1999-2022 in Spain, according to sex, age, region and tumor group.

Cancer deaths (ICD-10: C00-C97) from the mortality registry of the National Institute of Statistics, among population aged 20-49 between 1999-2022 were selected. Crude and age-adjusted rates were calculated. Temporal trends were analyzed using joinpoint models.

The age-adjusted cancer mortality rate (AACMR) decreased significantly in both sexes, with a further descrease in men (from 47 to 17.7 deaths per 100,000) than in women (from 34 to 20.8 per 100,000). The decrease was greater in the group aged 40-49 years-old. Among men, no turning point was observed (annual percentage change [APC]: -4.4%), whereas in women a change in trend was observed in 2003 (APC: -1.1% to -2.4%). Statistically significant differences by region were observed in first five-year period (1999-2003), with higher AACMR in northern Spain, diminishing these differences in last five-year period (2018-2022). The tumors with larger decrease of AACMR were those of oral cavity and pharynx in men (-72.8%) and those of ill-defined sites in women (-56.8%).

Cancer mortality in population aged 20-49 decreased in Spain between 1999-2022 with differences according to sex, age, region and tumor group. The most notable decrease occurred in men and in the group aged 40-49.