Abstract
In Canada, prostate cancer is the most common reportable malignancy in men. We assessed the temporal trends of prostate cancer to gain insight into the geographic incidence and mortality trends of this disease. Three independent population-based cancer registries were used to retrospectively analyze demographic data on Canadian men diagnosed with prostate cancer and men who died of prostate cancer between the years of 1992 and 2010. The incidence and mortality rates were calculated at the provincial, city, and forward sortation area (FSA) postal code levels by using population counts that were obtained from the Canadian Census of Population. The Canadian average incidence rate was 113.57 cases per 100,000 males. There has been an overall increasing trend in crude prostate cancer incidence between 1992 and 2010 with three peaks, in 1993, 2001, and 2007. However, age-adjusted incidence rates showed no significant increase over time. The national mortality rate was calculated to be 24.13 deaths per 100,000 males per year. A decrease was noted in crude and age-adjusted mortality rates between 1992 and 2010. Several provinces, cities, and FSAs had higher incidence/mortality rates than the national average. Several of the FSA postal codes with the highest incidence/mortality rates were adjacent to one another. Several Canadian regions of high incidence for prostate cancer have been identified through this study and temporal trends are consistent with those reported in the literature. These results will serve as a foundation for future studies that will seek to identify new regional risk factors and etiologic agents.
Highlights
In Canada, prostate cancer is the most common reportable cancer and represents the third leading cause of cancer-related deaths among men
Several Canadian regions of high incidence for prostate cancer have been identified through this study and temporal trends are consistent with those reported in the literature
Since prostate cancer diagnosis/incidence heavily depends on access to a medical system and/or likelihood of undergoing screening, we evaluated an association between African–Canadian/Black ethnicity and prostate cancer mortality in a similar way
Summary
In Canada, prostate cancer is the most common reportable cancer and represents the third leading cause of cancer-related deaths among men. Studies have found that up to 80% of cases are diagnosed in men above the age of 65. As the number of men within this age group has been predicted to increase up to fourfold by the year 2050, this malignancy is becoming an important and growing public health concern [1]. Canada is a large multiethnic country covering approximately 10 million square kilometres with a population >37 million and an average population density of 3.6 individuals per square kilometer. 18% of the population lives in rural communities, which account for 95% of Canada’s surface area [2]. The remainder of the population lives in urban communities, which make up only 5% of the surface area. There are an estimated 2.48 physicians per 1000 individuals, and approximately 47.2% of all physicians are general practitioners [2]
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