Malignant Neoplasms of Urinary Tract (C64-C68) in the Osijek-Baranja County (Croatia) in the Period 2001-2009

Purpose: We investigated the trends of the malignant neoplasms of the urinary tract in the Osijek-Baranya County (Croatia) during the 2001-2009 period. Methods: Mandatory county hospitals data reports, County bureaus of statistics and the County Register of Deaths of 872 cohort patients (260 females and 612 males) were used in this analysis. Results: For the both genders, the overall age-adjusted incidence rate was 24.5/100,000 with a weak upward chronological tendency (R2=0.059); also, the overall age-standardized mortality rate of 12.2/100,000 experienced a moderate upward trend line (R2=0.350). The age-adjusted 5-year relative survival rate of all patients totalled 51.0% in 2001-2005 period. The survival rate in males (51.1%) resembled the overall survival rate and it was slightly higher than in females (50.6%). An average patient was admitted to hospital 2.7 times during the course of their illness with the average length of stay in hospital of 11.3 days. The number of hospitalizations in years 2001 to 2009 progressively grew, both from the viewpoint of the entire population of patients and seeing genders separately (R2=0.777). Conclusion: Although the data on the incidence and mortality rate from this cancer group do not deviate much from the corresponding data on the European and Croatian level, the survival rate is far below the EU average and thus directly suggests that the health care of these cancer patients in the OBC should be substantially improved and put on a much higher level.