Incidence of and mortality from breast cancer among women in Poland in the years 2001-2010

Introduction: Breast cancer is the most common malignant tumour among women. About 15,000 new cases of breast cancer are diagnosed and more than 5,000 women die in Poland every year. The aim of this study was to analyse the incidence and mortality rate of breast cancer among women in Poland in the years 2001-2010.

Material and methods: Analysed data concerning the incidence of and mortality from cancer among women were obtained from the National Cancer Registry.

Results: The number of new cases reported in 2010 exceeded that reported in 2001 by 3,666. The mortality from breast cancer among women increased by 15.1% by 2009, to subsequently drop by 0.3% in 2010. The standardized incidence rate increased by 7.4 and the standardized mortality rate fell by 1.3 in 2001-2010.

Conclusions: In the years 2001-2010 the incidence of breast cancer in women in Poland rose by 30.3%, with an increase of 7.4 in the incidence rate. The highest rise in the incidence and mortality of women due to breast cancer in Poland is reported in the Lodz voivodeship. In the years 2001-2009 the number of women’s deaths due to breast cancer increased slightly, while the mortality rate dropped.