Cancer mortality in Espírito Santo: a gender-based analysis from 2019 to 2020

Introduction: Cancer mortality is a key public health indicator, reflecting both the effectiveness of prevention and treatment strategies and the socioeconomic conditions of a population. In the state of Espírito Santo, analyzing cancer mortality patterns is crucial for understanding local disease dynamics and guiding more effective health policies.

Objective: To measure the types of neoplasms with the highest incidence of deaths by sex in the state of Espírito Santo from 2019 to 2020.

Method: This is an ecological, cross-sectional, descriptive study with a quantitative approach. The study was conducted in August 2024, based on data provided by the State Health Department of Espírito Santo (SESA) through the technology of the Department of Informatics of the Unified Health System (DATASUS). The variables used were primary location of neoplasms, sex, and deaths in the years 2019 and 2020. The collected data were structured and analyzed using descriptive statistics in Microsoft Excel, through spreadsheets.

Results: During the analyzed period, 4,073 patients died from cancer in Espírito Santo between 2019 and 2020. The analysis by sex showed a predominance of males, with 2,256 deaths, accounting for 55.3% of the total sample. Bronchus and lung cancer presented the highest number of combined deaths among genders, totaling 974 (23.9%), followed by breast cancer in women with 680 deaths (16.5%) and prostate cancer in men with 623 deaths (15.2%). Cervical cancer, exclusive to women, accounted for 296 cases (7.3%). Another type of cancer with a high incidence in both men and women was stomach cancer, with 624 deaths (15.3%). Esophageal and liver cancers had a high prevalence in men, totaling 389 (17.2% of cancer deaths in men) and 243 (10.8% of cancer deaths in men) deaths, respectively, exclusively in men. Finally, colon cancer was responsible for the deaths of 244 women during the period, representing 7.44% of female cancer deaths.

Conclusion: The study revealed a high cancer mortality rate during the analyzed period, with the highest number of deaths occurring among males. Bronchus and lung cancer were responsible for the highest number of combined deaths among sexes, and were the leading cause of death among males, while breast cancer was the leading cause among females. Understanding these epidemiological variables is of utmost importance for the development of appropriate public policies for promotion, prevention, and management.

Corresponding author: Laíssa costa Pessanha (e-mail: laissapessanha@id.uff.br).