Trends and projections of cancer mortality in Osaka, Japan from 1977 to 2032

Abstract

Projecting cancer mortality is fundamental to the process of planning cancer control. Although the prefecture is one of the main units for the implementation and evaluation of cancer control in Japan, a long-term detailed future projection of cancer mortality has not been conducted by prefecture. The main objective of this paper is to estimate the future number of cancer deaths in Osaka prefecture. Projections were made using the Nordpred model to estimate future trends in cancer mortality. The projected age-standardized mortality rate decreased by 24.5% in males and 16.8% in females from 2012-16 to 2032-36. However, the number of deaths showed a small decrease in males (1.3%) and an increase in females (13.1%). The largest contributor to the increasing number of cancer deaths is the aging population. In Japan, cancer control programmes are implemented by prefecture; our report can therefore be used for prefecture-level cancer control planning.