Hannover Medical School Researchers Discuss Research in Cancer (Time Trends and Income Inequalities in Cancer Incidence and Cancer-Free Life Expectancy – a Cancer Site-Specific Analysis of German Health Insurance Data): Cancer

2022 MAY 04 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- New research on cancer is the subject of a new report. According to news reporting out of Hanover, Germany, by NewsRx editors, research stated, “Cancer represents a major burden of morbidity and mortality globally. So far, however, little is known on time trends and inequalities in the lengths of life spent free of any cancer. This study steps into this gap by analyzing time trends and income inequalities in cancer-free life expectancy (CFLE).”

Funders for this research include Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft Funder DOI: 10.13039/501100001659 Award:.

The news editors obtained a quote from the research from Hannover Medical School: “For this retrospective cohort study, data of a large German health insurer were used (N = 3,405,673individuals, 2006-2018). Income inequalities were assessed using individual income (<60% of German average income (GAI) and 60% of GAI). Trends in incidence risks were analysed employing proportional-hazard regression models by splitting the observation time into three periods of 52 months. Trends in CFLE in total and for the most common site-specific cancers were calculated based on multiple decrement life tables. Incidence rates declined in almost all cancers and CFLE increased substantially over time (49.1 (95% CI 48.8-49.4) to 51.9 (95% CI 51.6-52.2) years for men, 53.1 (95% CI 52.7-53.5) to 55.4 (95% CI 55.1-55.8) years for women at age 20 for total cancer) and income groups. Considerable income inequalities in cancer risks were evident in both sexes, but were more pronounced in men (total cancer HR 0.86 (95% CI 0.85-0.87)), with higher-income individuals having lower risks. The highest income inequalities were found in colon (HR 0.90 (95% CI 0.87-0.93)), stomach (HR 0.78 (95% CI 0.73-0.84)), and lung cancer (HR 0.58 (95% CI 0.56-0.60)) in men. A reverse gradient was found for skin (HR 1.39 (95% CI 1.30-1.47) men; HR 1.27 (95% CI 1.20-1.35) women) and prostate cancer (HR 1.13 (95% CI 1.11-1.15)). The proportion of CFLE in total life expectancy declined for lung, skin and cervical cancer in women, indicating a relative shortening of lifetime spent cancer-free. In contrast, increasing proportions were found in breast and prostate cancer. To our knowledge, this is the first study analysing trends and income inequalities in CFLE. The life span free of cancer increased clearly over time.”

According to the news editors, the research concluded: “However, not all cancer types contributed equally to this positive development. Income inequalities persisted or tended to widen, which underlines the need for increased public health efforts in socioeconomically vulnerable groups.”

For more information on this research see: Time Trends and Income Inequalities in Cancer Incidence and Cancer-Free Life Expectancy - a Cancer Site-Specific Analysis of German Health Insurance Data. Frontiers in Oncology, 2022,12. (Frontiers in Oncology - http://www.frontiersin.org/oncology). The publisher for Frontiers in Oncology is Frontiers Media S.A.

A free version of this journal article is available at https://doi.org/10.3389/fonc.2022.827028.

Our news journalists report that additional information may be obtained by contacting Fabian Tetzlaff, Medical Sociology Unit, Hannover Medical School, Hanover, Germany. Additional authors for this research include Jens Hoebel, Jelena Epping, Siegfried Geyer, Heiko Golpon, Juliane Tetzlaff.

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