Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2019 Sep;154(3):608-615.
doi: 10.1016/j.ygyno.2019.06.025. Epub 2019 Jul 11.

Global incidence comparisons and trends in ovarian germ cell tumors by geographic region in girls, adolescents and young women: 1988-2012

Aubrey K Hubbard  1 , Jenny N Poynter  2
Affiliations

Global incidence comparisons and trends in ovarian germ cell tumors by geographic region in girls, adolescents and young women: 1988-2012

Aubrey K Hubbard et al. Gynecol Oncol. 2019 Sep.

Abstract

Objective: Ovarian germ cell tumors (OGCT) are the primary ovarian malignancy affecting girls and young women. Globally, incidence rates and trends for OGCTs have not been compared in the literature and their etiology is not well described. Comparisons of incidence globally could inform etiologic hypotheses. The aim of this analysis was to evaluate geographic variation in OGCT incidence and to identify trends in incidence rates.

Methods: Data were extracted from Cancer Incidence in 5 Continents (CI5) from 1988 to 2012. Rates of OGCT in women and girls were calculated for ages 0-9, 10-19, and 20-39 years and standardized to the 2000-2025 average world population. Data were aggregated within subregions corresponding to the United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD) geoscheme. Incidence rates were compared in subregions and average annual percent change (AAPC) was estimated using Poisson regression.

Results: Overall, the highest incidence rates were observed in 10-19-year-olds. Incidence was generally the highest in Eastern Asia, Central America and North America. While incidence was variable by geographic region, less variation was observed in 0-9-year-olds as compared to adolescents and young adults. Significant increases in incidence were seen in some regions (Eastern Asia, Oceania, Western Europe, Southern Europe, and North America) and in countries with a high or very high human development index for one or more age groups.

Conclusions: Evaluating 25 years of OGCT incidence data, the highest incidence rates and largest increases in incidence were seen in Eastern Asia. Future studies should focus on etiologic features that may account for geographic variation and increases in incidence of OGCT.

Keywords: Adolescent; Germ cell; Ovary; Pediatric; Young women.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest

The authors have no conflict of interest relevant to this article to disclose.

Figures

Figure 1:
Figure 1:
Countries included in each time-period of the CI5 data for each geographic subregion.
Figure 2:
Figure 2:
Ovarian germ cell tumor incidence (per million) and 95% confidence intervals by geographic subregion for each age group during 2008–2012. *Incidence was not calculated or plotted for regions with less than 5 cases.
Figure 3:
Figure 3:
Ovarian germ cell tumor incidence by race/ethnicity and age group in the United States (SEER 13: 1992–2014).
Figure 4:
Figure 4:
Estimated average annual percent change (AAPC) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) by geographic subregion and age category.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Lee-Jones L, Solid Tumour Section Review Atlas of Genetics and Cytogenetics in Oncology and Haematology OPEN ACCESS JOURNAL AT INIST-CNRS Ovary: Germ cell tumors, Atlas Genet Cytogenet Oncol Haematol. 7 (2003). doi:10.4267/2042/38030. - DOI
    1. Stang A, Trabert B, Wentzensen N, Cook MB, Rusner C, Oosterhuis JW, McGlynn KA, Gonadal and extragonadal germ cell tumours in the United States, 1973–2007, Int. J. Androl. 35 (2012) 616–625. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2605.2011.01245.x. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Arora RS, Alston RD, Eden TOB, Geraci M, Birch JM, Comparative incidence patterns and trends of gonadal and extragonadal germ cell tumors in England, 1979 to 2003, Cancer. 118 (2012) 4290–4297. doi:10.1002/cncr.27403. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Rusner C, Trabert B, Katalinic A, Kieschke J, Emrich K, Incidence patterns and trends of malignant gonadal and extragonadal germ cell tumors in Germany, (1998). doi:10.1016/j.canep.2013.04.003. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Poynter JN, Epidemiology of Germ Cell Tumors, in: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg, 2014: pp. 17–36. doi:10.1007/978-3-642-38971-9_2. - DOI

Publication types