Cancer in Slovenia
Abstract
Background: As in other European countries, cancer is the second leading cause of death in Slovenia. Data on newly registered cancer patients is gathered by the Cancer Registry of Slovenia. It was founded in 1950 as a special service for collecting and processing data on cancer incidence and cancer patients’ survival. In 2004, there were 10,625 newly registered cancer patients (5,472 men and 5,153 women). Cancer burden is different in different life periods. Within this group of Slovenian cancer patients who got diagnosed in 2004, 1 % were younger than 19 years, almost 3 % were 20 to 34 years of age, 10 % were 35 to 49 years, 44 % were 50 to 69 years and 43 % were 70 years of age or older. In men older than 50 years, lung cancer is the most frequent form of cancer while a breast cancer is the most common cancer affecting women of the same age. Five-year relative survival rate of Slovenian cancer patients has been continuously improving during the registration period considering both sexes. In the period 1963–1967, five-year survival rate was 25 % for men and 42 % for women. After 20 years, survival rate improved by 5 % for both sexes. In the period 2000–2004, five-year relative survival rate reached 50 % in men and 64 % in women.
Conclusions: There have been numerous activities going on in Slovenia in the field of organised cancer control. However, no measurable targets in the form of the nationally organised and coordinated screening program have been defined yet to monitor and improve the results.
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References
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