10.1007/s12094-013-1060-y ; PURPOSE: To describe time trends of cancer in Catalonia, Spain, during the period 1993-2007. METHODS/PATIENTS: Data have been provided by two population-based cancer registries, Girona and Tarragona, and the Catalan mortality registry. Cancer incidence in Catalonia has been estimated through modeling methods using data from these health structures. RESULTS: During 2003-2007, there were 20,042 cancer cases and 9,842 deaths per year among men and 13,673 new cancer cases and 5,882 deaths among women. The most frequent incident cancers among men were prostate (N = 4,258), lung (N = 3,021), colorectal (N = 3,007) and bladder (N = 2,238), whereas among women they were breast (N = 3,907), colorectal (N = 2,088), corpus uteri (N = 734) and lung (N = 527). During 1993-2007, age-standardized incidence rates (ASIRs) rose 1.2 % per year among men [prostate (6.3 %), testis (5.7 %), kidney (2.9 %), liver (2.2 %) and colorectal (2.1 %)]. ASIRs decreased for stomach (-2.9 %), oral cavity and pharynx (-2.8 %), larynx (-2.7 %) and esophagus (-2 %). Among women, ASIRs only rose for lung (5.2 %), kidney (3.1 %), oral cavity and pharynx (2.6 %) and thyroid (1.6 %). ASIRs decreased for corpus uteri (-2.3 %), stomach (-1.7 %) and ovary (-1.6 %). Cancer mortality decreased -1.3 % per year among men and -2.1 % among women during the same period. CONCLUSION: Among men, the decrease of incidence/mortality of tobacco-related tumors was related to a reduction of smoking prevalence. Among women, the stabilization of breast cancer incidence and the rise of lung cancer incidence are similar to that observed in most European regions. These results allow assessing the effectiveness of public health strategies and they pose new frontiers for cancer control in Catalonia.