Data from the Minnesota Cancer Surveillance System (MCSS), Minnesota's statewide cancer registry, show that prostate cancer is one of the few sites for which cancer incidence and mortality rates are both significantly higher in Minnesota than nationally.

Between 1999-2003, the excess was limited to non-Hispanic whites (10% excess in incidence and mortality compared to non-Hispanic whites in the SEER Program and the US, respectively) and American Indians (2.7-fold increase in incidence and mortality compared to American Indians/Alaska Natives in the SEER Program and the US, respectively).

Maps showing regional variation in prostate cancer risk among non-Hispanic whites in Minnesota will be shown. The excess in prostate cancer incidence among whites was evident in 1969-1971, during the Third National Cancer Survey, but not during 1990-1994, the period of rapid prostatic specific antigen (PSA) uptake. This is consistent with lower use of PSA testing in Minnesota documented in the Behavioral Risk Factor Survey during 2002 and 2004. Prostate cancer mortality rates have been consistently higher since 1969. The reasons for these increased risks are not known, but may provide opportunities for etiologic research.

Contact Information

Carin Perkins, Ph.D., Epidemiologist Principal
651-201-5906

Sally Bushhouse, D.V.M., Ph.D., Director
651-201-5374

Minnesota Cancer Surveillance System
85 East Seventh Place
St Paul, MN 55101

References

Minnesota Cancer Facts and Figures 2006