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. 2024 Aug 13;22(1):327.
doi: 10.1186/s12916-024-03535-4.

Recent cervical cancer incidence, stage at diagnosis, and mortality trends in Puerto Rico, 2001-2019

Ana P Ortiz  1   2 , Carlos R Torres-Cintrón  3 , Eduardo J Santiago-Rodríguez  4 , Jeslie M Ramos-Cartagena  4 , Tonatiuh Suárez-Ramos  3 , Haluk Damgacioglu  5   6 , Vivian Colón-López  4 , Karen J Ortiz-Ortiz  4   7   3 , Ashish A Deshmukh  5   6
Affiliations

Recent cervical cancer incidence, stage at diagnosis, and mortality trends in Puerto Rico, 2001-2019

Ana P Ortiz et al. BMC Med. .

Abstract

Background: Cervical cancer incidence is rising in Puerto Rico (PR). Whether the increase is real or reflective of increased diagnostic scrutiny remains unclear.

Methods: Using data from the PR Central Cancer Registry for 2001-2019, we estimated trends of hysterectomy-corrected cervical cancer incidence and mortality rates, overall, and by stage at diagnosis and age.

Results: Overall, cervical cancer incidence (per 100,000) increased 1.6%/year (95% CI, -0.5% to 3.8%) from 12.5 to 15.3, with a prominent increase in distant-stage disease (4.5%/year [95% CI, 1.6% to 8.0%]), particularly among screening age eligible (25-64-year-old) women (5.8%/year [95% CI, 2.1% to 10.6%]). Mortality rates in this age-group remained stable during the study period.

Conclusions: Increased occurrence of distant-stage disease among screening-eligible women is troubling and may reflect a real increase. Future research is needed to elucidate the factors underlying these trends. Improved prevention is also an urgent priority to reverse the rising cervical cancer incidence in PR.

Keywords: Cervical cancer; Epidemiology; Incidence; Mortality; Puerto Rico.

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Conflict of interest statement

Dr. Deshmukh reported receiving consulting fees from Merck Inc and Value Analytics Lab outside the submitted work. Dr. Ortiz has been a consultant for Merck Inc and participates in an institutional grant funded by Merck Inc outside the submitted work. No additional competing interests were reported by the rest of the authors.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Trends of hysterectomy-corrected cervical cancer incidence rates in Puerto Rico and US Hispanic women, 2001–2019. Data points represent observed incidence rates (cases per 100 000 person-years). Rates are age-adjusted to the 2000 US population
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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