Bladder Cancer Incidence Trends in the United States From 2000 to 2020

Bladder cancer is one of the most common urogenital cancers globally. Here, we aimed to report the incidence trend of bladder cancer in the United States (US) over 2000-2020, by age, sex, race/ethnicity, and types using Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER).

We used SEER 22 data to calculate the age-standardized and delay-adjustment incidence rate of bladder cancer. Only individuals diagnosed with cancer and whose age at diagnosis was known were included in the study. A delay model was applied, adjusting for variables such as cancer site, registry, age group, race/ethnicity, and year of diagnosis. Using the Tiwari technique, the same database was also used to determine the age-standardized incidence rate (ASIR) of subtypes. The incidence data for 2020 were excluded from Joinpoint trends while displayed separately in illustrations.

Over 2000-2019, most bladder cancer cases were urothelial carcinoma (92.99%), among non-Hispanic Whites (84.48%) and those aged 70 to 84 years (45.72%). There was a significant decrease in the ASIR of bladder cancer across all races/ethnicities in both sexes within all age groups (Average annual percent change (AAPC): -0.95%; [-1.06, -0.83] for men and -1.02% [-1.21, -0.84] for women) over 2000-2019. The incidence rates decreased by 6.23% during the COVID-19 pandemic. Also, the delay-adjusted incidence rate of bladder cancer increased with advancing age.

Despite a decrease in ASIR of bladder cancer over 2000-2019, there are still a high number of incident cases, particularly among NHWs and the elderly. Future studies should investigate the underlying causes of bladder cancer incidence trends among demographic groups.