Background Cancer is widely recognized as a global public health problem. Breast, prostate, and cervical cancer are among the most frequent types in developing countries. Assessing their incidence and mortality by regions and municipalities is important to guide evidence-based health policy. Our aim was to describe the incidence and mortality trends for breast, cervical, and prostate cancer across regions and municipalities in Colombia during 2018. Methods We performed a cross-sectional analysis with data from people with breast, prostate, or cervical cancer, reported to the National Administrative Cancer Registry during 2018. A descriptive analysis was performed. Age-standardized incidence and mortality rates were estimated at national, regional, and municipal levels. Finally, we identify the regions and municipalities with significantly higher or lower incidence and mortality rates compared to national estimations. Results Breast cancer was the most frequent type among all new cases and deaths in Colombia. Breast, prostate and cervical cancer incidence and mortality rates per 100,000 were: 18.69 (CI 95%: 18.15–19.25) and 10.48 (CI 95%: 10.07–10.91); 11.34 (CI 95%: 10.90–11.78) and 7.58 (CI 95%: 7.22–7.96); 5.93 (CI 95%: 5.62–6.25) and 4.31 (CI 95%: 4.05–4.58), respectively. Eastern region had both, incidence and mortality rates, significantly lower than national for all types of cancer. By municipalities, there was a heterogeneous pattern. Nonetheless, Agua de Dios (Cundinamarca), had one of the highest incidence rates for all types. Conclusions We observed clear differences in cancer incidence and mortality across regions and municipalities, depending on each type of cancer. Our findings are important to improve screening coverage, early detection, and treatment in the country.

PURPOSE The National Cancer Information System (NCIS) has been operating since 2014, including information reported by health care insurers and providers on people with cancer diagnosed and treated within the Colombian health system. Its main purpose is to identify barriers to an effective access to cancer diagnosis and treatment across the country. We aimed to describe the methodology, scope and results in terms of access to health services with real-world data provided by the NCIS. METHODS Reporting of all cases of cancer by insurers and providers is mandatory by law. Data gathered include demographic and clinical information about new and old cases of cancer who receive health services. Over the years, the reporting process has been automated and it is currently performed in real time. Data quality is ensured through a standardized data-monitoring process. Access to health services is monitored by quality measures defined by consensus. RESULTS Since 2015, prevalent cases of invasive cancer have increased from 163,776 to 331,021 in 2020 (increment of 102.12%). Regarding quality measures, the proportion of people staged at diagnosis has increased over the years, especially in breast cancer. Meanwhile, early diagnosis is still concerning for breast and prostate cancer. Time to diagnosis and treatment have not consistently reached the expected goals in breast, cervical, and prostate cancer, whereas they have shown a better level of compliance for stomach and colon and rectum tumors, still not reaching the highest performance. CONCLUSION The real-world information approach provided by the NCIS may be complementary for cancer control planning in Colombia, emphasizing better management processes of health insurers and providers by identifying barriers for timely access to health care.

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Background Cancer is widely recognized as a global public health problem. Breast, prostate and cervical cancer are among the most frequent types in developing countries. Assessing their incidence and mortality by regions and municipalities is important to guide evidence-based health policy. Our aim was to describe the incidence and mortality trends for breast, cervical and prostate cancer across regions and municipalities in Colombia during 2018. Methods We performed a cross-sectional analysis with data from people with breast, prostate or cervical cancer, reported to the National Administrative Cancer Registry during 2018. A descriptive analysis was performed. Age-standardized incidence and mortality rates were estimated at national, regional and municipal levels. Finally, we identify the regions and municipalities with significantly higher or lower incidence and mortality rates compared to national estimations. Results Breast cancer was the most frequent type among all new cases and deaths in Colombia. Breast, prostate and cervical cancer incidence and mortality rates were: 18,69 (CI 95%: 18,15–19,25) and 10,48 (CI 95%: 10,07–10,91); 11,34 (CI 95%: 10,90 − 11,78) and 7,58 (CI 95%: 7,22 − 7,96); 5,93 (CI 95%: 5,62 − 6,25) and 4,31 (CI 95%: 4,05 − 4,58), respectively. Eastern region had both, incidence and mortality rates, significantly lower than national for all types of cancer. By municipalities, there were a heterogeneous pattern. Nonetheless, Agua de Dios (Cundinamarca), had one of the highest incidence rates for all types. Conclusions We observed clear differences in cancer incidence and mortality across regions and municipalities, depending on each type of cancer. Our findings are important to improve screening coverage, early detection and treatment in the country.

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