Recent trends in prostate cancer mortality show a continuous decrease in several countries.
Prostate specific antigen (PSA) screening was introduced to detect prostate cancer at an early stage and to reduce prostate cancer-specific mortality. Until results from clinical trials are available, the efficacy of PSA screening in reducing prostate cancer mortality can be estimated by surveillance of prostate cancer mortality trends. Our study analyzes recent trends in prostate cancer mortality in 38 countries. We used the IARC-WHO cancer mortality database and performed joinpoint analysis to examine prostate cancer mortality trends and identified 3 patterns. In USA, and to a lesser extent in Germany, Switzerland, Canada, France, Italy and Spain, prostate cancer-specific mortality decreased to a level lower than before the introduction of PSA screening. In Australia, New Zealand, Austria, Finland, The Netherlands, Norway, United Kingdom, Hungary, Slovakia, Israel, Singapore, Sweden and Portugal, mortality from prostate cancer decreased but rates remain higher than before the introduction of PSA screening. Prostate cancer mortality continued to increase in Belgium, Denmark, Greece, Ireland, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Belarus, Ukraine, Russian Federation, Romania, Poland, Argentina, Chile, Cuba, Mexico, Japan, China Hong Kong and the Republic of Korea. The trends in prostate cancer mortality rates in examined countries suggest that PSA screening may be effective in reducing mortality from prostate cancer.
Bouchardy
Christine
C
Geneva Cancer Registry, Institute for Social and Preventive Medicine, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland.
Fioretta
Gerald
G
Geneva Cancer Registry, Institute for Social and Preventive Medicine, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland.
Rapiti
Elisabetta
E
Geneva Cancer Registry, Institute for Social and Preventive Medicine, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland.
Verkooijen
Helena Maria
HM
Geneva Cancer Registry, Institute for Social and Preventive Medicine, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland.|Department of Community Occupational and Family Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore.
Rapin
Charles Henry
CH
Association PROSCA, Geneva, Switzerland.
Schmidlin
France
F
Service of Urology, Geneva University Hospitals, Geneva, Switzerland.
Miralbell
Raymond
R
Service of Radio-oncology, Geneva University Hospitals, Geneva, Switzerland.
Zanetti
Roberto
R
Geneva Cancer Registry, Institute for Social and Preventive Medicine, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland.|Piedmont Cancer Registry, CPO, Torino, Italy.
D000368:Aged; D000569:Americas / Q000453:epidemiology; D001315:Australia / Q000453:epidemiology; D005060:Europe / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000379:methods; D008875:Middle Aged; D009026:Mortality / Q000639:trends; D017430:Prostate-Specific Antigen / Q000097:blood; D011471:Prostatic Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000276:immunology / Q000401:mortality*
D017430:Prostate-Specific Antigen