Comparative analysis of mortality trends from meningioma across regions of Brazil from 2012 to 2022

Keywords

meningioma - neoplasia - analytical epidemiology

Introduction: Meningioma is the most common primary tumor of the central nervous system (CNS), accounting for approximately one-third of brain and spinal cord tumors. Although most of these tumors are benign, their growth can compress important CNS structures, leading to considerable morbidity and mortality. Since treatment for this condition is complex, access to resources, which is unevenly distributed across regions, may represent a limitation in the appropriate management of the pathology.

Objective: The present study aims to compare the trend in deaths from meningioma across different regions of the country over an 11-year period.

Method: This is an aggregated, observational and cross-sectional study, carried out using data obtained from the National Cancer Institute (INCA) Online Mortality Atlas, seeking information on deaths by region, considering all age groups of both sexes, over the 11-year period, between 2012 and 2022.

Results: Over the period analyzed, the number of deaths remained relatively stable. Of the 1,734 deaths, 137 were in 2012 and 184 in 2022, with each year in the interval representing a percentage between 7.9% and 10.61%. Regarding spatial distribution, the Southeast region was the one with the most deaths, with 792, as opposed to 80 records in the Brazilian North region. The state of São Paulo alone was responsible for 21.8% of the total deaths in the country, surpassing the entire North and Central-West regions. The latter, despite being the region with the smallest population, was not the one with the lowest number of deaths (116). The distribution by age group showed a predilection for elderly patients, with 60.38% of records in patients over 60 years of age. There was also a clear disparity in terms of gender, with the number of deaths being twice as high in women (1156 versus 578 for men).

Conclusion: Despite the technical and scientific advances in therapy for CNS tumors, this progress has not been reflected in a reduction in the absolute number of deaths during the study period. This indifference may be due to the unequal distribution of resources among different regions in Brazil, leading to a limitation in timely diagnosis, which underestimates the statistics in poorer regions, such as the North. Another hypothesis is the inefficiency of therapy in cases where the natural course of the disease is more aggressive. Therefore, in order to advance knowledge of this pathology, an optimized distribution of resources is necessa.

Corresponding author: Marilya Oliveira Ellery (e-mail: [e-mail]).