(Tasks Related to the National Health Strategy (IV/651/2022/EKF).)
Among malignant diseases, lung cancer has one of the highest mortality and incidence.
Most epidemiological studies conclude that Hungary faces the most severe burden in
association with this disease. However, for various reasons estimates and population-based
studies show discrepancies. In this study, an intense data cleansing was performed
on lung cancer cases that were reported to the Hungarian National Cancer Registry
in 2018, and the major clinico-pathological parameters as well as survival characteristics
were described. Our population-based figures were compared to the European estimates.
As a result of our thorough revision, the corrected incidence of lung cancer has fallen
below the number of cases that were reported to the Registry from 11,746 to 9,519.
We also demonstrate that Hungary did not show the highest incidence and mortality
in Europe, but it is still among the ones with the worst raking countries, with 92.9
and 50.6 age standardized rate per 100 thousand capita among males and females, respectively.
Analysis of the annually reported case numbers revealed a gender-specific difference
in incidence trends: while from 2001 to 2019 it slightly decreased among males, it
increased among females. The most dominant subtype was adenocarcinoma, which was more
frequent among female patients. Unfortunately, most of the newly diagnosed cases were
in advanced stage; thus, 5 year overall survival was 14.8%. We anticipate that in
the longer term, a decrease in incidence and improvement in survival rates may be
expected as a result of the development of primary and secondary prevention programs
in the country.
