Trends in Primary Kidney Cancer: A South Australian Registry Review

Abstract

Background The incidence of primary kidney cancer (PKC) has been increasing over the last three decades. This has been attributed to the liberal use of radiological examinations for unrelated indications. We investigated the incidence and survival trends of PKC in South Australia. Methods Data were provided through the South Australian Cancer Registry and comprised pathology, hospital admission and death notifications between 1977- 2013. Basic demographic data at diagnosis, tumour grade, and overall survival (OS) were available for analysis. Results During 1977-2013 there were 5529 cases of PKC diagnosed. Mean overall survival was 70.6 months (standard deviation 80.2). The age adjusted incidence of PKC has increased from 5 per 100,000 to 12.7 per 100,000. However, CSS and OS has significantly improved at each decade of diagnosis since 1977 (p<0.001). Conclusion Since 1977 the incidence of kidney cancer has doubled in South Australia with step-wise improvement in OS at each decade of diagnosis.