BACKGROUND: The reported annual incidence of adrenocortical carcinoma (ACC) is 0.5-2.0 cases per million individuals.
Updated population-based studies on incidence are lacking. The aim of this nationwide survey was to describe the incidence and survival rates of ACC in the Netherlands. Secondary objectives were to evaluate changes in both survival rates and the number of patients undergoing surgery.
METHODS: All ACC patients registered in the Netherlands Cancer Registry (NCR) between 1993 and 2010 were included. Data on demographics, stage of disease, primary treatment modality and survival were evaluated.
RESULTS: Included were 359 patients, 196 of whom were female (55%). Median age at diagnosis was 56years (range 1-91). The 5-year age-standardised incidence rate decreased from 1.3 to 1.0 per one million person-years. Median survival for patients with stage I-II, stage III and stage IV disease was 159months (95% confidence interval (CI) 93-225months), 26months (95% CI: 4-48months) and 5months (95% CI: 2-7months), respectively (P< 0.001). Improvement in survival was not observed, as reflected by the lack of association between survival and time of diagnosis. The percentage of patients receiving treatment within 6months after diagnosis increased significantly from 76% in 1993-1998 to 88% in 2005-2010 (P=0.047), mainly due to an increase in surgery for stage III-IV patients.
CONCLUSION: These nationwide data provide an up-to-date survey of the epidemiology of ACC in the Netherlands. A trend towards a decreasing overall incidence rate was observed. Survival rates did not change during this period despite an increased number of surgical procedures.
Written by:
Kerkhofs TM, Verhoeven RH, Van der Zwan JM, Dieleman J, Kerstens MN, Links TP, Van de Poll-Franse LV, Haak HR. Are you the author?
Department of Internal Medicine, Máxima Medical Centre, Veldhoven, Eindhoven/Veldhoven, The Netherlands.
Reference: Eur J Cancer. 2013 Apr 2. pii: S0959-8049(13)00173-1.
doi: 10.1016/j.ejca.2013.02.034
PubMed Abstract
PMID: 23561851
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