In Slovakia, there are increasing cases of breast and prostate cancer, but mortality from malignant tumors has been decreasing for a long time. This is shown by new data published by the National Health Information Center (NCZI).
Interactive infographics maps the development from 1996 to 2024 and makes it possible to compare the incidence, mortality and survival of patients by diagnosis, age or region. A novelty is that the data is available to the level of the districts. TASR informed about this by the communication of the center of Simona Uhlárová Jarošová.
According to NCZI, the incidence of malignant tumors has increased by 23.5 percent since 1996, and growth was more pronounced in women. However, men had a higher incidence rate throughout the period. Uhlárová Jarošová explained that the mortality rate for cancer had a declining tendency – in 2024 258 people died to 100,000 inhabitants, which is 78 less than in 1996.
Men were most commonly found in the observed period, among other malignant skin tumors as well as malignant tumor of the prostate, colon and rectum and malignant tumor of the trachea, bronchi and lungs. Prostate cancer has risen by 91 cases to 100,000 men since 1996.
“In women, after other malignant skin tumors, there were mainly a malignant breast tumor, with a greater distance of the malignant tumor of the colon and rectum, then the malignant tumor of the uterine body and the unspecified part of the uterus.”Said Uhlárová Jarošová. She added that breast cancer in women has increased by 42 cases per 100,000 women since 1996.
At the same time, the data shows that although five -year survival has not changed significantly in recent years (58 to 59 percent between 2016 to 2019), in the long term patients with cancer have lived longer than in the past. In younger patients, survival was higher – 30 to 44 years to 84 percent. The highest levels of five -year survival concerned the malignant tumors of the testicle, the thyroid, skin, breast and uterus, the lowest cancer of the pancreas, liver or gallbladder.
As NCZI made it clear, the data is also confirmed by the effect of screening programs – the incidence of cervical cancer has decreased in the higher stages, on the contrary, in the early stages it increased, which experts attribute to better capture. In the age group of women 23 to 64 years entitled to screening, the increase in the incidence of cervical cancer was 69 per 100,000 persons when comparing years 2016 and 2024.
NCZI said that for many years the National Oncological Register (NOR) SR, which is a central database of information on the occurrence of cancer in Slovakia, was processed manually, causing time delays. Since 2023, the center has therefore been using a new information system and an algorithm that works with the data of health insurance companies.
