Cancer
Temporal patterns of cancer incidence and mortality in Hungary: Evidence from nationwide population data Janos Tibor Fekete* Janos Tibor Fekete Fekete Fekete Semmelweis University, Dept. of Bioinformatics, Budapest, Hungary
Background: Hungary has a sustained high cancer burden, however, population-based analyses of long-term trends in incidence, mortality, and prevalence across major tumor types remain scarce. Characterizing these temporal patterns is essential for informing cancer surveillance, screening strategies, and healthcare planning.
Methods: ICD10 classification was used to identify cancer diagnoses from the nationwide administrative records of the Hungarian National Health Insurance Fund. Data was analyzed for five major tumor types: breast (C50), colorectal (C18), lung (C34), prostate (C61), and stomach cancer (C16). Annual incidence, mortality, and prevalence were derived for each cancer type over a five-year period (2018 -2024). All metrics were accumulated across both sexes and all age groups.
Results: Temporal trends varied in the five tumor types, but represented consistent nationwide shifts. Breast cancer showed a 6.7% increase in incidence, and a 56.2% surge in mortality, while prevalence increased from 37,887 to 41,809. Lung cancer showed a 10.3% decrease in incidence and a 3.02% reduction in mortality, while prevalence decreased from 31,829 to 29,258. Incidence of colorectal cancer changed minimally (–1.4%), but mortality increased by 25.4%, and prevalence decreased from 28,589 to 27,839. Prostate cancer demonstrated a 10.9% rise in incidence and substantial 40.4% upsurge in mortality, with prevalence rising from 19,046 to 21,616. Stomach cancer exhibited a 16.5% reduction in incidence and a 4.5% lessening in mortality, while prevalence declined from 5,770 to 4,910. A web-based real-time analytical platform was developed to facilitate analysis of further tumor types (www.epidemplot.com).
Conclusion: Nationwide data from Hungary reveal measurable heterogeneous temporal trends of cancer incidence, mortality, and prevalence across major tumor types. Such population-level assessments are key to descriptive epidemiology and robust cancer surveillance.
