Prostate cancer incidence, mortality, and survival trends in the United States: 1981-2001.

Abstract

The increased use of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) in screening for preclinical disease after 1985 is thought to be a major determinant of the changing patterns in prostate cancer incidence; however, the long-term effect of screening on future trends in mortality and survival is uncertain. This article reviews the temporal trends (1981-1998) for prostate cancer incidence, mortality, and survival, and projects prostate cancer incidence and mortality rates for 1999 to 2001. Autoregressive, quadratic, time-series models were used to describe prostate cancer mortality rates in the US population and prostate cancer incidence rates derived from the National Cancer Institute's (NCI) Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) program. These models were based on data collected from 1979 through 1998, with forecasts produced for 1999 to 2001. Prostate cancer incidence increased steadily from 1981 to 1989, with a steep increase in the early 1990s, followed by a decline. Incidence rates were forecasted to remain stable through the year 2001. Mortality rates decreased steadily and were forecasted to continue to decrease concurrently with increasing 5- and 10-year relative survival rates. The incidence, mortality, and survival trends were comparable in US blacks, who exhibited on average 2-fold higher mortality and 50% higher incidence than whites. Decreasing prostate cancer mortality and increasing relative survival trends in the United States were described after the introduction of PSA screening. However, the exaggerated rate of increase in the early 1990s in prostate cancer incidence was transient and likely a result of increased detection of preclinical disease that was prevalent in the general population.