Background: The corpus uteri and ovarian cancers burden in Lithuania has remained high. The aim of this study was to investigate time trends in mortality rates of corpus uteri and ovarian cancer in Lithuania across age groups and time periods over a 30-year time span. Materials and Methods: Data on numbers of deaths from corpus uteri cancer during the period 1987-2016 and ovarian cancer during the period 1993-2016 were obtained from the WHO mortality database. Trends in age-standardized mortality rates (ASR, world standard), and age-specific rates were analyzed by calculating annual percentage change using Joinpoint regression. In addition, age-period-cohort analysis was performed for each cancer type. Results: Mortality from corpus uteri cancer decreased by -1.2% (95% CI: -1.8; -0.7) annually from 1987 to 2016. Decrease was most pronounced in youngest age group of 40-49 years; annual percentage change was -2.4 (95% CI: -4.0; -0.9). Mortality rates for ovarian cancers decreased by -1.2% (95% CI: -1.6; -0.8) annually from 1993 to 2016. Corpus uteri and ovarian cancer ASRs in 2016 were 3.5/100,000 and 7.4/100,000, respectively. The age-period-cohort analysis suggests that temporal trends in corpus uteri cancer mortality rates could be attributed to period and cohort effects. Conclusion: A reduction in mortality rate was observed for corpus uteri and ovarian cancer over the entire study period. Similar decreasing pattern for corpus uteri and ovarian cancer mortality indicate effect of shared factors.
Keywords: Lithuania; average annual percentage change; corpus uteri cancer; mortality; ovarian cancer; trends.