Lung Cancer in Colombia

Colombia is a country on the northwest of South America, and it is divided into 32 departments, a capital district, 1121 municipalities, and indigenous territories. Population growth in the period 1990 to 2016 was 42.0%, during which time population structure became regressive and older, with most living in urban areas (82%) (Fig. 1A–C). The Colombian health system is made up of a social security sector and a private sector. The system’s backbone is the General Social Security Health System, with a coverage near to 100%.1 According to data from GLOBOCAN, 6876 incident cases of lung cancer (LC) occur every year in Colombia. LC represents the sixth place among the malignant neoplasms documented annually in the country, with an estimated age-standardized incidence rate of 10.5 per 100,000 inhabitants.2 LC ranked second in overall cancer mortality in both sexes, accounting for 11.8% of deaths. It was the third cause of death in men (7.1% of the total) and the fourth in women (4.7%). The country’s age-adjusted rate for mortality from this cancer was 11.5 per 100,000 in men and 6.4 per 100,000 in women