Malignant neoplasms of the pancreas. A study based on autopsy data from 1953 to 1982 in Bialystok, Poland. I. Frequency, age and sex distribution.
Among 18 751 autopsies in persons over 20 years of age 195 primary malignant neoplasms of pancreas (MNP) were stated (117 in males, 78 in females; the ratio being 1.5 : 1). In the period of the investigation (1953--1982) MNP comprised 1.0% of all autopsies, 4.1% of all malignant neoplasms (MN), and 11.0% of MN of alimentary system (MNAS). The frequency of MNP in all autopsies was from 0.5% during the years 1953--1957 to 1.2% in 1978--1982, in all MN from 2.7% to 4.5%, and in all MNAS from 5.7% to 12.7%, respectively. MNP were observed most frequently at the age of 61--70. The mean age was 63.6 and was higher in females than in males (66.3 and 61.8, respectively), and increased in the period under study from 54.6 to 65.6 (in males from 50.8 to 64.8, in females from 59.3 to 66.8). The significant increase in the incidence of MNP in the population of patients who died in all hospitals in Bialystok (the north-eastern Poland) between 1953--1982 and were autopsied in our Department correlates with data indicating the rise in the incidence of MNP in many countries of the world.