Spatial and temporal distribution of cancer mortality in a Brazilian Legal Amazon State between 2000 and 2015.

Objective: To analyze the spatial distribution of the four-year cancer mortality rates in the state of Mato Grosso, Brazil, from 2000 to 2015.

Methodology: Ecological design study, in which mortality from neoplasia was analyzed, from 2000 to 2015, for the municipalities of Mato Grosso State. Mortality rates due to cancer were calculated by the ratio of the sum of deaths by cancer in each quadrennium, divided by the average of the population in the two central years of the period, multiplied by 10,000 inhabitants. Annual percentage change was calculated by the ratio of the linear regression coefficient to the cancer mortality rates in Mato Grosso State at the beginning of the analyzed period (2000 to 2003). Thematic maps were constructed for each quadrennium using intervals of equal classes.

Results: Cancer caused 31,097 deaths in the state of Mato Grosso in the period, 13,058 in women and 18,039 in men, with a male to female ratio of 1.38. The top five causes of cancer death in the period were lung (12.2%), prostate (8.7%), stomach (7.7%), breast (6.0%), and liver (4.7%). There was an increase in the number of municipalities with rates greater than 23.67 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants in the period.

Conclusion: There was an increase in cancer mortality and an increase in the proportion of municipalities with higher mortality rates. Higher density of cancer mortality occurred in the municipalities located in the West, Center-South, Southeast, and Center-North regions of the state.