Burden of cancer in Poland analysed using potential years of life lost

Aim of the study
The aim was to assess the impact of the most frequent cancer-related causes of death in Poland by estimating the years of potential life lost (YPLL) and to compare different measures of the burden of cancer deaths on the population.

Material and methods
Mortality rate, YPLL and mean YPLL were calculated for the 11 most frequently recorded cancer-related causes of death in Poland. YPLL were measured applying the up-to-date reference life tables proposed by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation and used in the Global Burden of Disease study (GBD 2015). Absolute numbers of cancer deaths by site, gender and five-year age groups were obtained from the Polish National Cancer Registry (2015).

Results
In 2015 the total YPLL amounted to 1,990,457, with 23.6% from lung and bronchial cancer. Mean YPLL was 19.79 years and varied considerably according to tumour site (26.12 [brain] – 14.3 [prostate]). Three tumour sites (brain, ovarian and kidney) are positioned higher according to mean YPLL than according to YPLL percentage and mortality percentage.

Conclusions
Our results draw attention to the impact of cancer on society and individual patients. Addressing research efforts to prevention and/or treatment of major YPLL causes could result in a substantial impact on general life expectancy.