Background: We estimated the burden of cancer using mortality and years of life lost according to life tables in a cohort study in Japan.
Methods: A cohort of 13,270 subjects established in the late 1980s in Japan was followed annually for the vital status of all subjects until 2003. For subjects who died, the underlying cause of death was ascertained from the death certificate. Crude mortality rate from cancer per 100,000 person-years was calculated, and years of life lost (YLL) as well as the average years of life lost (AYLL) were computed using the 1995 life tables in Japan.
Results: During the follow-up period, we recorded a total 839 cancer deaths (517 men and 322 women), representing 35.5% of deaths from all causes. Overall crude cancer mortality was 654.9 per 100 000 person-years in men and 312.6 in women. Total YLL due to cancer was 7035.3 years in men and 5627.0 years in women. Overall AYLL due to all cancers was 13.6 years less than life expectancy in men and 17.5 years in women.
Conclusion: These results showed that cancer was the leading cause of death in this cohort; with stomach, liver and lung cancer the three most frequent cancers in both sexes. YLL and AYLL reflect the cost of dying from cancer in terms of years of life expectancy lost. The different mortality statistics used here may be useful in public health considerations of cancer burden.