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Management of Prostate Cancer pp 1–11Cite as

Epidemiology of Prostate Cancer in Europe

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Abstract

Prostate cancer is the most frequently diagnosed cancer in European men. Incidence rates vary hugely between continents, with differences up to 100-fold. Northern and Western Europe are among the parts of the world with the highest incidence, whereas Asia has the lowest incidence. Also between countries within a continent, considerable variation exists. This variation is caused by a combination of genetic factors, dietary and lifestyle factors, and health-seeking behavior, the latter most notably opportunistic prostate cancer testing with PSA. The mechanisms underlying the risk factors remain to be elucidated. The same goes for the question whether PSA screening should be advocated.

In all European countries, prostate cancer incidence has been increasing since even before the discovery of PSA. Interestingly, different trends are seen for mortality. In the more western and northern European countries, mortality rates started to decrease sometime in the 1990s, while a continuously increasing mortality has been observed in the southern and eastern countries. Following the increased detection of early prostate cancer and improvements in treatment, currently, almost five million European men are estimated to be alive with a diagnosis of prostate cancer, a number still increasing, making it one of the largest health issues in the Western world for the twenty-first century.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Data on incidence and mortality were obtained from Globocan, a database maintained by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), see Ferlay et al. (2010).

  2. 2.

    All reported incidence and mortality rates in this chapter were age-standardized to the world standard population.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Epidemiology, Biostatistics and HTA (133), Radboud University Medical Centre, 9101, 6500 HB, Nigmegen, The Netherlands

    Ruben G. Cremers M.D. & Lambertus A. Kiemeney Ph.D.

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  1. Ruben G. Cremers M.D.
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  2. Lambertus A. Kiemeney Ph.D.
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Correspondence to Lambertus A. Kiemeney Ph.D. .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. , Department of Oncology and Radiotherapy, University Hospital, BP 217X, Grenoble, 38043, France

    Michel Bolla

  2. , Department of Urology, University Hospital, Herestraat 49, Leuven, 3000, Belgium

    Hendrik van Poppel

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© 2012 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Cremers, R.G., Kiemeney, L.A. (2012). Epidemiology of Prostate Cancer in Europe. In: Bolla, M., van Poppel, H. (eds) Management of Prostate Cancer. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27597-5_1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27597-5_1

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  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-27596-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-27597-5

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