An analysis of the increase in lung cancer in Canada.

Lung cancer mortality in Canada over the period 1936-1964 is reviewed and a forecast is presented of future trends in the death rates, based on cohort analyses. Since 1936 the annual increases in mortality have been greater among individuals over 65 years of age, but in this group no single five-year age-group has contributed the major part to the general increase. Cohort analyses show (a) that the rate of increase of lung cancer has been much slower in generations born after 1906, (b) that the actual death rate will rise more slowly in the future, and (c) that the death rate may become stable within 15 years.