Mortality from prostate cancer in the years 2007–2021 in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany

Abstract

Background: The crude mortality rate and the lifetime mortality risk from prostate cancer in Germany are above international average. However age-standardised mortality and years of life lost per capita from prostate cancer are declining. This study analyses the mortality-related measures for the federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) in Germany. Methods: Based on the cause of death statistics and data from the NRW State Cancer Registry on 45,300 deaths in the years 2007–2021, mortality rates, the lifetime mortality risk from prostate cancer, median age at death and years of life lost are presented. Additionally, the 15 most frequent causes of death of 95,013 patients diagnosed with prostate cancer are reported. Results: With a stable lifetime mortality risk from prostate cancer, age-standardised mortality and years of life lost per capita are decreasing while crude mortality and median age at death are increasing in NRW. Less than half of the patients die from their prostate cancer. Cancers of the urinary bladder and other urinary organs also occur more frequently as a cause of death than it would be expected based on the age-specific risk in the total population. Conclusions: More people in North Rhine-Westphalia are dying of prostate cancer over time due to demographic ageing alone. At the same time, the age-specific mortality risk has not increased and when patients die of prostate cancer, it is at an increasingly older age. However, there is a statistical association with deaths from cancers of the lower urinary tract in patients diagnosed with prostate cancer, which demands further evaluation.