Abstract
Background: Currently, only 7 out of 16 Federal States of Germany provide testicular cancer incidence rates with an estimated completeness of at least 90% which complicates the regional comparison of incidence rates. The aim of this study was to provide a novel approach to estimate the testicular cancer incidence in Germany by using nationwide hospitalization data. Methods: We used the nationwide hospitalization data (DRG statistics) of the years 2005-2006 including 16,6 million hospitalizations among men. We identified incident testicular cancer cases by the combination of a diagnosis of testicular cancer and an orchiectomy during the same hospitalization and estimated the age-specific and age-standardized (World Standard Population) incidence of testicular cancer across Federal States. We also analyzed available cancer registry data from 2005 to 2006. Results: A total of 8544 hospitalizations indicated incident testicular cancer cases in 2005-2006. The nationwide crude incidence rate of testicular cancer was 10,6 per 100.000 person-years. The ratio of the number of registered cases (cancer registry) to the estimated number of cases based on the hospitalization statistics ranged between 79% and 100%. There was only little variation of the age-standardized DRG-based incidence estimates across Federal States (range: 8,2-10,6 per 100.000 person-years). Discussion: We provided testicular cancer incidence estimates for each of the 16 Federal States of Germany based on hospitalization data for the first time. The low within-population incidence variability in Germany and high between-population incidence variability in Europe may indicate that ecologic factors play a causal role in the European variation of testicular cancer.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Journal | Cancer Epidemiology |
| Volume | 34 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| Pages (from-to) | 13-19 |
| Number of pages | 7 |
| ISSN | 1877-7821 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 01.02.2010 |
Funding
We are grateful for the support by the Federal Bureau of Statistics and would especially like to thank T. Hochgürtel and H. Habla for all their support. We would also like to thank R. Lüdde, Statistical Office of the Federal Armed Forces Administration, Andernach, for providing the testicular cancer hospitalization data of soldiers of the Federal Armed Forces. Furthermore, we thank D. Höppner, Federal Armed Forces Hospital of Berlin. We thank C. Rusner for carefully reading the final version of the manuscript. The analyses were undertaken in collaboration with the following members of German population-based cancer registries: B. Eisinger, R. Stabenow, B. Streller (Gemeinsames Krebsregister der Länder Berlin, Brandenburg, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Sachsen-Anhalt und der Freistaaten Sachsen und Thüringen (GKR)), C. Stegmaier (Epidemiologisches Krebsregister Saarland), A. Katalinic (Krebsregister Schleswig-Holstein), A. Eberle (Bremer Krebsregister), M. Meyer (Bevölkerungsbezogenes Krebsregister Bayern), K. Ohlendorf (Epidemiologisches Krebsregister Niedersachsen), P. Kaatsch (Deutsches Kinderkrebsregister), K. Emrich (Krebsregister Rheinland-Pfalz), K. Kraywinkel (Epidemiologisches Krebsregister Nordrhein-Westfalen), S. Hentschel (Hamburgisches Krebsregister). Data on testicular cancers reported to the GCCR were validated by the responsible clinical trial (MAKEI, principal investigator: U. Göbel, Düsseldorf). Processing data of the Deutsches Kinderkrebsregister (GCCR) was supported by a grant from Deutsche Krebshilfe e.V. (German Cancer Aid) (Number 10 62 59). We would also like to thank the Society for Epidemiologic Cancer Registries in Germany (GEKID e.V.). Funding : The study was financially funded by the Institute of Clinical Epidemiology, Martin-Luther-University of Halle-Wittenberg .
