BLADDER-CANCER IN ESTONIA, 1968-1992 - INCIDENCE, MORTALITY, PREVALENCE AND SURVIVAL

This paper summarizes what is known about the occurrence and survival of bladder cancer in Estonia from 1968 to 1992. In 1988-92 the age sta ndardized (world standard) incidence rate of bladder cancer was 11.1 p er 100,000 person-years in males and 2.0 in females, and the age stand ardized mortality rate was 8.2 and 2.7, respectively; by July 1, 1990 the age standardized prevalence rate was 41.5 and 14.7, respectively. Between 1968-72 and 1988-92, incidence increased by 1.26 times (95% co nfidence interval 1.09 to 1.46) among males; incidence rates for femal es did not show a consistent trend. The time trends in mortality gener ally paralleled the trends in incidence. Higher rates of bladder cance r ware found among males in five large towns. For patients diagnosed i n 1983-87, the five-year relative survival was 32.4% (95% confidence i nterval 27.0 to 37.8) for males and 32.5% (23.8 to 41.2) for females; throughout the 20 years there was no improvement in survival. As the s urvival rates are less favorable than those in the Nordic countries, f urther hospital-based studies are needed to investigate the relation b etween survival and clinical characteristics.