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Geographical epidemiology of prostate cancer in Great Britain
Author(s) -
Jarup Lars,
Best Nicky,
Toledano Mireille B.,
Wakefield Jon,
Elliott Paul
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
international journal of cancer
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.475
H-Index - 234
eISSN - 1097-0215
pISSN - 0020-7136
DOI - 10.1002/ijc.10113
Subject(s) - prostate cancer , spatial epidemiology , demography , epidemiology , poisson regression , spatial variability , regional variation , geography , cancer , medicine , environmental health , population , pathology , statistics , mathematics , sociology , political science , law
Prostate cancer incidence has increased during recent years, possibly linked to environmental exposures. Exposure to environmental carcinogens is unlikely to be evenly distributed geographically, which may give rise to variations in disease occurrence that is detectable in a spatial analysis. The aim of our study was to examine the spatial variation of prostate cancer in Great Britain at ages 45–64 years. Spatial variation was examined across electoral wards from 1975–1991. Poisson regression was used to examine regional, urbanisation and socioeconomic effects, while Bayesian mapping techniques were used to assess spatial variability. There was an indication of geographical differences in prostate cancer risk at a regional level, ranging from 0.83 (95% CI: 0.78–0.87) to 1.2 (95% CI: 1.1–1.3) across regions. There was significant heterogeneity in the risk across wards, although the range of relative risks was narrow. More detailed spatial analyses within 4 regions did not indicate any clear evidence of localised geographical clustering for prostate cancer. The absence of any marked geographical variability at a small‐area scale argues against a geographically varying environmental factor operating strongly in the aetiology of prostate cancer. © 2001 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.