LAUSR

BACKGROUND The purpose of this study was to analyze trends of bladder cancer (BC) stages and incidence in Europe and the United States (US). MATERIALS AND METHODS Tumor stages after radical cystectomy were assessed in a monocentric cohort from 2006 to 2016. BC incidence was assessed between 2004 and 2014 based on the German Center for Cancer Registry Data dataset at the Robert Koch Institute (n = 111,002), the Netherland Cancer Registry (n = 64,226), cancer registration statistics of England (n = 179,883), and the pooled data from the Scandinavian cancer registries, NORDCAN (n = 77,585) and the SEER (Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results) database (n = 184,519) for the complete populations and gender-specific subgroups. The average annual percent changes (AAPC) were used for statistical evaluation. RESULTS Non-muscle-invasive BC (NMIBC) and muscle-invasive BC (MIBC) did not change in the institutional cohort at the point of radical cystectomy. The incidence of total BC (AAPC, -0.3), NMIBC (AAPC, -0.1), and non-metastasized MIBC (AAPC, 0.1) did not change in Germany during the time period under survey. BC total incidence in the Netherlands did not change significantly. In England and the Nordic countries, the incidence of total BC increased (AAPC, 0.8 and 0.5, respectively). In contrast, both the incidence of total BC (AAPC, -1.4), NMIBC (AAPC, -1.6), and non-metastasized MIBC (AAPC, -1.6) significantly decreased in the US. CONCLUSIONS Between 2004 and 2014 the incidence of BC was significantly sinking in the US, was stable in Germany and the Netherlands, and increased in England and the Nordic countries. Predominantly, differences in the smoking prevalence within the last decades but also gender-specific factors might be responsible for this discrepancy.