Incidence rate for bladder cancer in Japanese in Japan and in the United States from the Cancer Incidence in Five Continents

In order to make a comparison of bladder cancer incidence rates between Japanese in Japan and those in the United States, we abstracted the age-standardized incidence rates (ASRs) from the Cancer Incidence in Five Continents Vol. I–X (CI5). International Agency for Research on Cancer provides the CI5 databases on the incidence of cancer recorded by cancer registries (regional and national) worldwide. We used ASRs for Japanese from the following cancer registries: Miyagi, Nagasaki and Osaka in Japan, and California–Los Angeles, California–San Francisco and Hawaii in the United States of America from the CI5 database. Furthermore, we referred the ASRs in the United States (SEER 9 registries and Hawaii). Years at cancer diagnosis were from 1959 to 2007 in Vol. I–X in CI5; however, the years were a little different from registries. Bladder cancer is the 11th leading cause of cancer in the world; 10th in the USA and 13th in Japan. The incidence rate of bladder cancer in males is three to four times higher than those in females. Therefore, this cancer for males is the 4th leading cause of cancer in the USA and 8th in Japan, while for females it is the 11th leading cause of cancer in the USA and 16th in Japan.