Substantial under-estimation in cancer incidence estimates for developing countries due to under-ascertainment in elderly cancer cases

Cancer Lett. 2008 Jun 18;264(2):250-5. doi: 10.1016/j.canlet.2008.01.034. Epub 2008 Mar 7.

Abstract

Under-ascertainment of elderly cases in cancer registry data is a well-known problem. This article provides the cancer incidence in developing countries corrected for the under-ascertainment in elderly cancer cases (aged 65+). The original incidence rate by GLOBOCAN 2002 was 11% (men 15%; women 7%) under-estimated, so there were 6,462,000 new cancer cases (3,093,000 men; 2,737,000 women) in 2002 topping the original estimate by 632,000. This paper is the first attempt to quantify the under-ascertainment bias in the cancer burden of developing countries and opens the discussion on how cancer incidence could be corrected in this increasing part of the population.

MeSH terms

  • Age Distribution
  • Aged
  • Aged, 80 and over
  • Bias
  • Developing Countries*
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Incidence
  • Male
  • Models, Theoretical*
  • Neoplasms / epidemiology*