Cancer surveillance in Mato Grosso: methodological and operational aspects of a extension/research projects

Abstract

Objective: To describe the methodological and operational aspects of the Cancer Surveillance Project and its associated factors: population-based and hospital-based registry (VIGICAN), in Mato Grosso (MT). Methods: VIGICAN was divided into two projects: an extension one, which updated the data from the Population-Based Cancer Registry (RCBP) of MT in the period 2008 to 2016; and one of research, which collected primary data, through individual interviews and analysis of medical records of people with a diagnosis of cancer, aged 18 years or over, treated at reference hospitals for oncology. To analyze the factors associated with cancer, the following variables were collected: socioeconomic and demographic, social support, status and health behavior, and environmental exposure. Results: In the períod from 2008 to 2016, approximately one hundred thousand cases of cancer (incident and prevalent) were reported in the RCBP Cuiabá and Interior. After validation procedures, fifty thousand incident cases were chosen. The survey interviewed 1,012 patients, 38.2% living in the municipalities of Cuiabá and Várzea Grande, 60.4% in the interior of the state and 1.4% in other states. Preliminary data revealed that the majority were female (55.0%) and younger than 60 years (54.3%). Among those interviewed, 7.2% reported smoking tobacco, 15.5% consumed alcoholic beverages (15.5%) and 32.7% lived close to crops. Conclusion: The development of these projects allowed the integration of education with health services and will enable the recognition of specificities and different exposure scenarios and factors associated with cancer in the Mato Grosso territory.