Trends in cancer incidence in Metropolitan Detroit, 1937–1977: Leads for prevention

Cancer incidence among the black and white male and female population of metropolitan Detroit is presented for the years 1937, 1948, 1969–1971, and 1973–1977. These trends reveal increases in lung cancer among all four groups over time, while stomach cancers have decreased among each of the four groups. For black and white men lung cancer has the highest incidence in the two recent time periods, while cancer of the prostate was highest in the two earlier time periods. Among women, uterine cancer had the highest incidence for both blacks and whites in the earlier time periods, but breast cancer occurred among women more frequently than any other cancer in the most recent time period. These trends reveal the changing incidence patterns over time within an urban, industrialized population. Population-based cancer incidence data provide the most complete and accurate assessment of the occurrence of cancer within a population. Such data are particularly useful for proper planning of screening programs and for evaluating the need for preventive measures. As an example, the continuous increase in lung cancer in all four groups across all time periods clearly reveals the need for more effective measures to reduce cigarette smoking in this population.