To investigate and compare the trends in incidence and mortality of penile cancer between Australia, England and Wales, and the US, and provide hypotheses for these trends.
Cancer registry data from 1982 to 2005 inclusive were obtained from Australia, England and Wales, and the United States.
From these data, age-specific, -standardised and mortality:incidence ratios were calculated, and compared.
The overall incidence of penile cancer in England and Wales (1. 44 per 100,000 man-years) was higher than in Australia (0. 80 per 100,000), and the US (0. 66 per 100,000). Incidence of penile cancer in all three countries has remained relatively stable over time. Similarly, although the mortality rates were also higher in England and Wales (0. 37 per 100,000 man-years) compared to Australia (0. 18 per 100,000) and the US (0. 15 per 100,000), the mortality/incidence ratios were similar for all three countries.
Penile cancer incidence is low, affecting mainly older men. Rates differ between the three countries, being twice as common in England and Wales as in the other studied regions. Circumcision rates have a potential influence on these rates but are not the sole explanation for the variation.
SpringerPlus. 2015 Aug 14*** epublish ***
James Sewell, Weranja Ranasinghe, Daswin De Silva, Ben Ayres, Tamra Ranasinghe, Luke Hounsome, Julia Verne, Raj Persad
Department of Surgery, Western Hospital, Gordon Street, Footscray, VIC 3011 Australia. , Monash Health, Melbourne, Australia. , La Trobe Business School, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia. , St George's Hospital, London, UK. , Department of Neurology, West Virginia University, Morgantown, USA. , South West Knowledge and Intelligence Team, Public Health England, Bristol, UK. , South West Knowledge and Intelligence Team, Public Health England, Bristol, UK. , University Hospital Bristol, Bristol, UK.