Trends in cancer incidence and survival in the Augsburg study region—results from the Augsburg cancer registry

OBJECTIVES: Knowledge about time trends of cancer incidence and cancer survival in a defined region is an essential prerequisite for the planning of regional healthcare infrastructure. The aim of the study was to provide population-based analyses of all common tumour sites to assess the cancer burden in the Augsburg study region. SETTING: Total population of the study region of Augsburg (668 522 residents), Southern Germany. PARTICIPANTS: The data obtained from the Cancer Registry Augsburg comprised 37 487 incident cases of malignant tumours (19 313 men and 18 174 women) diagnosed between 2005 and 2016 in the Augsburg region’s resident population. PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOME MEASURES: We calculated sex-specific, age-standardised incidence rates and annual percent change to assess time trends. In men and in women, 3-year and 5-year relative survival was calculated and results were compared with the latest German estimates. Survival trends were presented for the most common cancers only. RESULTS: Decreasing age-standardised incidence rates were observed for prostate cancer and for colorectal cancer in men. For oropharyngeal cancer, rates declined in men, but significantly increased in women. Incidence for female breast cancer remained stable. Five-year relative survival ranged between 6.4% (95% CI: 4.1% to 10.1%) for pancreatic cancer and 97.7% (95% CI: 96.0% to 99.4%) for prostate cancer in men and between 10.2% (95% CI: 7.1% to 14.6%) for pancreatic cancer and 96.6% (95% CI: 93.6% to 99.6%) for malignant melanoma in women. Trends in 3-year survival of the five most common tumour sites in men showed a significant increase for lung and oropharyngeal cancer. In women, continuously rising survival trends were observed for breast cancer. CONCLUSIONS: Survival of cancer patients in the Augsburg study region was largely concordant with the situation in Germany as a whole, while incidence showed slight deviations in some cancer sites. Regional evaluations on cancer survival are a valuable instrument for identifying deficits and determining advances in oncological health management.