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. 2021 Jun 24;21(1):726.
doi: 10.1186/s12885-021-08261-1.

Cancer incidence and mortality trends in France over 1990-2018 for solid tumors: the sex gap is narrowing

G Defossez  1   2   3   4 , Z Uhry  5   6   7   8   9 , P Delafosse  10   11 , E Dantony  6   7   8   9 , T d'Almeida  10   12 , S Plouvier  10   13 , N Bossard  6   7   8   9 , A M Bouvier  10   14 , F Molinié  10   15 , A S Woronoff  10   16   17 , M Colonna  10   11 , P Grosclaude  10   18   19 , L Remontet  6   7   8   9 , A Monnereau  10   20   21 ; French Network of Cancer Registries (FRANCIM)
Collaborators, Affiliations

Cancer incidence and mortality trends in France over 1990-2018 for solid tumors: the sex gap is narrowing

G Defossez et al. BMC Cancer. .

Abstract

Objective: To analyze trends in cancer incidence and mortality (France, 1990-2018), with a focus on men-women disparities.

Methods: Incidence data stemmed from cancer registries (FRANCIM) and mortality data from national statistics (CépiDc). Incidence and mortality rates were modelled using bidimensional penalized splines of age and year (at diagnosis and at death, respectively). Trends in age-standardized rates were summarized by the average annual percent changes (AAPC) for all-cancers combined, 19 solid tumors, and 8 subsites. Sex gaps were indicated using male-to-female rate ratios (relative difference) and male-to-female rate differences (absolute difference) in 1990 and 2018, for incidence and mortality, respectively.

Results: For all-cancers, the sex gap narrowed over 1990-2018 in incidence (1.6 to 1.2) and mortality (2.3 to 1.7). The largest decreases of the male-to-female incidence rate ratio were for cancers of the lung (9.5 to 2.2), lip - oral cavity - pharynx (10.9 to 3.1), esophagus (12.6 to 4.5) and larynx (17.1 to 7.1). Mixed trends emerged in lung and oesophageal cancers, probably explained by differing risk factors for the two main histological subtypes. Sex incidence gaps narrowed due to increasing trends in men and women for skin melanoma (0.7 to 1, due to initially higher rates in women), cancers of the liver (7.4 to 4.4) and pancreas (2.0 to 1.4). Sex incidence gaps narrowed for colon-rectum (1.7 to 1.4), urinary bladder (6.9 to 6.1) and stomach (2.7 to 2.4) driven by decreasing trends among men. Other cancers showed similar increasing incidence trends in both sexes leading to stable sex gaps: thyroid gland (0.3 to 0.3), kidney (2.2 to 2.4) and central nervous system (1.4 to 1.5).

Conclusion: In France in 2018, while men still had higher risks of developing or dying from most cancers, the sex gap was narrowing. Efforts should focus on avoiding risk factors (e.g., smoking) and developing etiological studies to understand currently unexplained increasing trends.

Keywords: Cancer; Incidence; Mortality; Registries; Sex; Trends.

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Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Ten leading cancer sites stemming from estimations of the numbers of new cases and deaths by sex, 2018, France. Note: The estimated number of new cases of prostate cancer relates to 2015 (last year of observation) and not 2018, due to the high level of uncertainty regarding the short-term incidence trends for this cancer
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Trends in age-standardized incidence rates (log-scale) by sex for the main solid cancer sites and for all cancers, 1990–2018, France. Note: Cancer sites are displayed in the order in which they appear in the numerical list of ICD-O3 topography section (see details in Supplementary Table S2)
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Trends in age-standardized mortality rates (log-scale) by sex for the main solid cancer sites and for all cancers, 1990–2018, France. Note: Cancer sites are displayed in the order in which they appear in the numerical list of ICD-O3 topography section (see details in Supplementary Table S2)
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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