Prostate cancer (PCa) is a leading cause of mortality and morbidity globally, but its specific geographic patterns and temporal trends are under-researched.
To test the hypotheses that PCa incidence is higher and PCa mortality is lower in countries with higher socioeconomic development, and that temporal trends for PCa incidence have increased while mortality has decreased over time.
Data on age-standardized incidence and mortality rates in 2012 were retrieved from the GLOBOCAN database. Temporal patterns were assessed for 36 countries using data obtained from Cancer incidence in five continents volumes I-X and the World Health Organization mortality database. Correlations between incidence or mortality rates and socioeconomic indicators (human development index [HDI] and gross domestic product [GDP]) were evaluated.
The average annual percent change in PCa incidence and mortality in the most recent 10 yr according to join-point regression.
Reported PCa incidence rates varied more than 25-fold worldwide in 2012, with the highest incidence rates observed in Micronesia/Polynesia, the USA, and European countries. Mortality rates paralleled the incidence rates except for Africa, where PCa mortality rates were the highest. Countries with higher HDI (r=0.58) and per capita GDP (r=0.62) reported greater incidence rates. According to the most recent 10-yr temporal data available, most countries experienced increases in incidence, with sharp rises in incidence rates in Asia and Northern and Western Europe. A substantial reduction in mortality rates was reported in most countries, except in some Asian countries and Eastern Europe, where mortality increased. Data in regional registries could be underestimated.
PCa incidence has increased while PCa mortality has decreased in most countries. The reported incidence was higher in countries with higher socioeconomic development.
The incidence of prostate cancer has shown high variations geographically and over time, with smaller variations in mortality.
European urology. 2016 Jun 08 [Epub ahead of print]
Martin C S Wong, William B Goggins, Harry H X Wang, Franklin D H Fung, Colette Leung, Samuel Y S Wong, Chi Fai Ng, Joseph J Y Sung
Family Medicine and Primary Healthcare, School of Public Health, Prince of Wales Hospital, Shatin, Hong Kong., Division of Biostatistics, School of Public Health and Primary Care, Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Prince of Wales Hospital, Shatin, Hong Kong., School of Public Health, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, PR China; General Practice and Primary Care, Institute of Health and Wellbeing, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK., Family Medicine and Primary Healthcare, School of Public Health, Prince of Wales Hospital, Shatin, Hong Kong., Family Medicine and Primary Healthcare, School of Public Health, Prince of Wales Hospital, Shatin, Hong Kong., Family Medicine and Primary Healthcare, School of Public Health, Prince of Wales Hospital, Shatin, Hong Kong., SH Ho Urology Centre, Department of Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong., Department of Medicine and Therapeutics, State Key Laboratory of Digestive Disease, Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong. Electronic address: .