Bladder cancer is six times more common in Northern America than Central America

Source: GLOBOCAN 2008

Bladder cancer was diagnosed in about 380,000 people worldwide in 2008. This accounted for about 3% of the total number of cases of cancer in 2008. Bladder cancer is predominantly a disease of high income countries.  The age standardised rate of bladder cancer was about four times higher in men compared with women (9 vs. 2 per 100,000 population).

The highest age standardised rate of cancer was in Northern America (US and Canada), followed by various regions of Europe. There were low rates of bladder lower-income regions such as parts of Africa, parts of Asia and Central America.

The three countries with the highest rates per 100,000 population of bladder cancer were Israel (16), Denmark (15) and Lebanon (15).

Smoking tobacco is a major cause of bladder cancer. It is estimated that more than half of all cases in men and around a third in women are caused by smoking. Infestation with schistosomes is a cause of bladder cancer. It is estimated that about 10 per cent of bladder cancer cases is due to schistosomiasis in middle and low-income countries.

Age standardised incidence rates for liver cancer in 2008