Kidney Cancer - rates lowest in developing countries

Source: Globocan: 2008

Kidney cancer is the 10th most common cancer worldwide. About 270,000 cases were recorded in 2008. Global incidence rates (per 100,000, age standardised) are almost twice as high among men (5.1) than among women (2.8). Trends indicate that rates of kidney cancer are increasing, and remain particularly high in high-income countries.

Some of the largest rates of increase have been seen in Eastern Europe where there has been significant economic transition. It is in this region that you find the highest age standardised rates (ASR). For example, in the Czech Republic (16.6), Latvia (13.2) and Lithuania (11.9) rates are significantly higher that the average global incidence rate (4.0). Rates in the United States (12.2) and Germany (10.8) are also high in comparison to global rates.

In terms of a breakdown by level of economic development, rates are generally much higher in more developed regions (8.6) than in less developed regions (1.9). WHO Europe region has the highest average rate of all the WHO regions, and out of the twenty countries with highest rates of kidney cancer worldwide, only three (United States, Canada, Australia) lie outside this region. Rates are lowest across Africa, where countries report very small numbers of cases. Southeast Asia and South Asia also report relatively low rates: Thailand, Myanmar and Viet Nam all have a rate of 1.4; Pakistan and India have rates of 1.1 and 0.9 respectively.

The Second Expert Report found convincing evidence that body fatness increases the risk of kidney cancer.

Rate per 100,000 population