Spatiotemporal Shifts in Brain and Nervous System Cancer Mortality Rates from 1999-2018 and their Association with Gender

Keywords: Brain Cancer, Mortality, Epidemiology, Spatial-analysis, Gender
Abstract Type: Virtual Paper Abstract

Abstract

Purpose: Cancers of the brain and nervous system have some of the highest mortality rates of any cancer, with a 5-year survival rate around 36%. The purpose of this study is to identify state-level spatiotemporal trends within brain and nervous system cancer mortality rates overall and stratified by gender.

Methods: We sourced age-adjusted cancer incidence and mortality rate data from CDC Wonder. Data were available from 1999 to 2018, and split into four, five year time periods (1999-2003, 2004-2009, 2010-2014, 2015-2018) and also stratified by gender. We subsequently analyzed the changes in incidence, mortality, and their ratios across each period and by gender.

Results: Age-adjusted mortality rates varied across the United States, with the highest rates during the 1999-2003 period. Beginning in the 2004-2009 time period, mortality rates remained consistent overall with some minor variation between states. Overtime there were minor shifts in the individual rates, but they rarely increased by more than 1/100,000. Arkansas, Tennessee and Mississippi were 3 states that consistently had the highest mortality rates. Women had lower incidence and mortality rates compared to men. For example, the average mortality rate for women was 3.9/100,000 compared to the mortality rate for men which was 5.5/100,000. This trend in gender disparity is consistent for the entire sample.

Conclusions: Further research investigating the relationship between brain cancer mortality and gender is needed. Based on the conducted spatiotemporal analysis, there is a dramatic difference in the mortality rates for men and women which is consistent across time periods and geography.