OBJECTIVES

: Cancer-related epidemiological information are frequently reported using registry data. In this study, we assessed prevalence and incidence of different types of cancer in Germany using a large claims dataset.

METHODS

: The analysis utilized claims data provided by a big German statutory health insurance covering the years 2010-2016. Prevalent cases were defined as all patients with confirmed cancer diagnoses (at least 1 inpatient and/or 2 confirmed outpatient diagnoses of ICD-10 codes C00.x-C75.x/C76.x-C80.x/C81.x-C97.x documented by specialists) in 2016. Incident cases were defined as those who received confirmed diagnoses in 2016 (excluding C76.x-C80.x/secondary neoplasm) without any prior related cancer diagnoses in 2010-2015. Crude period prevalence and cumulative incidence were standardized according to the German standard population in the corresponding year (age and gender distribution published as forecast by the German Federal Office of Statistics in 2015).

RESULTS

: Age and gender standardized prevalence of any cancer in 2016 was 34.5 cases per thousand (31.7 per thousandwomen and 37.5 per thousandmen). The standardized cumulative incidence in 2016 was 8.6 cases per thousand (7.4 per thousand women and 9.9 per thousand men).

Most common cancer diagnoses in 2016 were breast cancer (prevalence/incidence: 6.1/0.7 per thousand or 11.9/1.4 per thousand women), non-melanoma skin cancer (prevalence/incidence: 5.9/1.6 per thousand), prostate cancer (prevalence/incidence: 5.9/0.7 per thousand or 12.0/1.4 per thousand men), bladder cancer (prevalence/incidence: 2.4/0.5 per thousand), kidney cancer (prevalence/incidence: 1.8/0.3 per thousand), colon cancer (prevalence/incidence: 1.7/0.5 per thousand), lung cancer (prevalence/incidence: 1.5/0.6 per thousand), malignant melanoma of the skin (prevalence/incidence: 1.1/0.3 per thousand), rectum cancer (prevalence/incidence: 1.1/0.3 per thousand) and lymphatic leukemia (prevalence/incidence: 0.9/0.1 per thousand).

CONCLUSIONS

: Based on the claims data analyzed in this study higher cancer incidences than those previously been reported for Germany were identified, suggesting a higher real-world healthcare burden than currently estimated.