BACKGROUND: Few data on cancer mortality have been published for Mexico over the last few decades. It is therefore of interest to conduct a systematic and updated analysis of cancer mortality in this country. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Age-standardised (world population) mortality rates, at all ages and truncated at age 35-64 years, from major cancers and all cancers combined were computed on the basis of certified deaths derived from the World Health Organization database for the period 1970-99. RESULTS: Mortality rates for all neoplasms showed an upward trend in men of all ages (from 58.2/100 000 in 1970-74 to 87.1/100 000 in 1995-99) and in middle-aged men (from 76.1 to 93.7/100 000, respectively). This reflects the rise until the early 1990s in lung cancer mortality (from 8.1/100 000 in 1970-74 to 15.6/100 000 in 1995-99) and prostate cancer (from 5.5 to 12.2/100 000, respectively). In women, overall mortality rates showed an increase between the early 1970s (75.4/100 000) and the late 1990s (82.3/100 000). Total cancer mortality rates remained low, however, compared with other American countries (e.g. 153.3/100 000 men and 108.6/100 000 women in 1999 in the United States). Truncated rates were stable (126.5/100 000 in 1970-74 and 125.8/100 000 in 1995-99), although they were much higher than overall rates, reflecting exceedingly high rates for uterine (mostly cervical) cancer mortality in middle-aged women (29.5/100 000 in 1995-99). CONCLUSIONS: Total cancer mortality in Mexico has remained comparably low on a worldwide scale, and the upward trends in mortality rates for lung and other tobacco-related neoplasms have tended to level off over the last decade. However, steady rises have been observed for other major cancers, including prostate and breast. Cervical cancer remains a major health problem in women. [authors]