Crude and age-specific incidence of cancer of the stomach, colon, breast, and lung ascertained by autopsy frequency in the Heidelberg area from 1900 to 1975.

Time independence of the selection of autopsy material of the Institute of Pathology of the University of Heidelberg can be assumed as all factors depending on this selection show a remarkable steadiness during the period covered: The mean age of death of patients on whom an autopsy was performed and was not performed is the same, the sex ratio remains unchanged, the number of persons who died in the Heidelberg area has decreased only slightly, and the percentage of dead patients with last residence in this area that were autopsied also remains unchanged. By documenting all pathoanatomic diseases without separating the cause of death, the crude and age-specific incidence of lung, colon, breast, and gastric cancer can be estimated from the beginning of this century up to the present time. The data given in this paper show a decrease of the risk of gastric cancer at younger ages, a quite steady risk of colon cancer, and a steeply increasing risk of lung and breast cancer. The epidemiologic meaning of these data is discussed briefly.