Contemporary incidence and mortality rates of kidney cancer in the United States

Abstract

Introduction: This is a timely update of incidence and mortality for renal cell carcinoma (RCC) in the United States.

Methods: Relying on the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database, we computed age-adjusted incidence, mortality rates and 5-year cancer-specific survival (CSS) for patients with histologically confirmed kidney cancer between 1975 and 2009. Long-term (1975-2009) and short-term (2000-2009) trends were examined by joinpoint analysis, and quantified using the annual percent change (APC). The reported findings were stratified according to disease stage.

Results: Age-adjusted incidence rates of RCC increased by +2.76%/year between 1975 and 2009 (from 6.5 to 17.1/100 000 person-years, p < 0.001), and by +2.85%/year between 2000 and 2009 (p < 0.001). For the same time points, the corresponding APC for the incidence of localized stage were +4.55%/year (from 3.0 to 12.2/100 000 person years, p < 0.001), and +4.42%/year (p < 0.001), respectively. The incidence rates of regional stage increased by +0.88%/year between 1975 and 2009 (p < 0.001), but stabilized in recent years (2000-2009: +0.56%/year, p = 0.4). Incidence rates of distant stage remained unchanged in long- and short-term trends. Overall mortality rates increased by +1.72%/year between 1975 and 2009 (from 1.2 to 5.0/100 000 person-years, P<0.001), but stabilized between 1994 and 2004 (p = 0.1). Short-term mortality rates increased in a significant fashion by +3.14%/year only for localized stage (p < 0.001).

Interpretation: In contemporary years, there is a persisting upward trend in incidence and mortality of localized RCC.

Fig. 1.

Overall age-adjusted incidence rates of kidney cancer [A] and stratified according to disease stage [B], Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER), 1975–2009.

Fig. 2.

Five-year cancer-specific survival among all patients diagnosed with kidney cancer [A], patients with localized disease [B], with regional disease [C], and with distant disease [D], Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER), 1975–2005.

Fig. 3.

Overall age-adjusted mortality rates of kidney cancer [A] and stratified according to disease stage [B], Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER), 1975–2004.