Municipal distribution and trends in bladder cancer incidence in health area of León, Spain (1996–2010)

Objective Spain is a country where bladder cancer incidence and mortality rates are some of the highest in the world. The aim of this study is to know the incidence, trends and geographical distribution of bladder cancer in the health area of Leon. Material and methods The new cases of bladder cancer (CIE-188) in patients residing in the health area of Leon and registered in the Hospital Tumor Registry of the Centro Asistencial Universitario in Leon (Spain) between 1996 and 2010 were included in this study. Triennial crude incidence and adjusted incidence rates to the worldwide and European population were calculated. Population data of the municipalities of Leon (Spain) were obtained from National Institute of Statistic of Spain (INE, Instituto Nacional de Estadistica). Data were disaggregated by sex-groups and five-year age groups. Spatial distribution of smoothed municipal relative risks (RR) of bladder cancer was carried out using a Besag, York and Mollie model. Bayesian model were used to calculate the posterior probability (PP) of RR > 1. Results 1573 cases were included. Incidence rates standardized to European population increased among men from 20.8/100,000 (1996–98) to 33.1/100,000 (2006–2008) and among women these rates increased from 1.9/100,000 to 5.9/100,000 for the same period of time. No relevant differences were found in the municipal distribution of the incidences. Conclusions Bladder cancer incidence rates are high in the European context. Rising trends in incidence in both sexes, particularly in women are observed.