[The burden of disease for cancer in Santander, Colombia, 2005].

Objectives: Determining the burden of cancer in Santander using disability adjusted life years (DALY).

Methods: This was a descriptive study of the disease burden for determining DALYs caused by cancer in Santander. The unit of analysis consisted of the Autonomous University of Bucaramanga- Population-Based Cancer Centre records and National Bureau of Statistics- mortality records for 2005.

Results: The global burden of disease for Santander was estimated at 877 DALY per hundred thousand people, 50 being due to disability and 827 to premature death. It was seen that premature death DALY (94 %) greatly outweighed disability DALY (6 %). The highest DALY values due to premature death in men were related to cancer of the stomach (169.8), leukaemia (106.8), colon and the rectum (100.4), lymphomas and multiple myelomas (89.9), whilst the highest values in women were observed in cervical (122.4), breast (121.9) and stomach cancer (94.2) and leukaemia (86.0). The types and cancer sites related to more years of life lost (YLL) were the colon and rectum (11.3), breast (6.2), liver (6.05) and cervical cancer (5.43).

Conclusions: The burden of disease from cancer in Santander in 2005 was mainly due to premature death YLL in both sexes and all age-groups.