DOI: 10.1200/go-26-59000 ISSN: 2687-8941

Cervical Cancer Mortality in Brazil, 2010-2023: Rising Crude Rates and a Nearly Twofold North–Southeast Gap

Eleonora Balzan Fleck, Analissa Ferraz, Manuela Carneiro de Mattos, Lucas Mazzo, Camila Cunha da Silva
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PURPOSE

Cervical cancer is a preventable malignancy whose mortality can expose inequities across the cancer control continuum. In Brazil, a middle-income country with universal health coverage but marked socioeconomic/geographic disparities, deaths from cervical cancer may indicate uneven access to prevention, screening, diagnostic follow-up, and treatment. This study analyzed temporal patterns and regional inequities in cervical cancer mortality from 2010 to 2023.

METHODS

We conducted an ecological, retrospective study using public secondary data. The period began in 2010 to provide a post-2010 Census baseline and ended in 2023, the most recent complete year available. Deaths among women with cervical cancer as the underlying cause were obtained from the Brazilian Mortality Information System through DATASUS/TABNET, using ICD-10 code C53. Female population estimates came from the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics. Crude mortality rates were calculated per 100,000 women by year and region. Trends were assessed using Poisson regression with log female population as offset.

RESULTS

From 2010 to 2023, 84,794 cervical cancer deaths were recorded in Brazil. Annual deaths increased from 4,986 to 7,209, and the national crude mortality rate rose from 5.01 to 6.65 deaths per 100,000 women. Poisson regression showed a significant increasing national trend, with an average annual increase of 2.19% (95% CI, 2.02 to 2.36; P < .001). Significant increases occurred in all regions. The South had the highest annual increase (2.69%), followed by the Northeast (2.49%) and North (2.31%). The North had the highest crude mortality rates, reaching 10.24 deaths per 100,000 women in 2023, while the Southeast had the lowest rate, at 5.22. In 2023, mortality in the North was 1.96 times higher than in the Southeast.

CONCLUSION

Cervical cancer mortality increased in Brazil and remained markedly unequal across regions. The North–Southeast gap reinforces cervical cancer mortality as a marker of inequities across the cancer control continuum, while the rapid increase in the South may reflect population aging, improved mortality registration, or changing care patterns. As rates were not age-standardized and no segmented analysis around HPV vaccine implementation was performed, findings are descriptive and hypothesis-generating. Reducing preventable deaths requires regionally tailored vaccination, screening, diagnostic follow-up, and timely treatment.

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