The impact of socioeconomic inequality on urological cancer: A nationwide population-based study in Taiwan

Purpose: Socioeconomic inequality may contribute to different risk factors for cancers. This study aims to analyze the socioeconomic patterns of urological cancer incidence and mortality in Taiwan. Materials and Methods: Using data from the National Health Insurance, we designed a retrospective longitudinal cohort study of 3686 subjects who were newly diagnosed with bladder cancer (BC), kidney cancer (KC), and upper urinary tract cancer (UTUC) between 2000 and 2010. We analyzed patients' characteristics and mortality among the three cancers. Results: The average age of KC diagnosis was the youngest among the cancers. Moreover, KC tends to occur in patients with higher-income occupations who reside in urban areas. Both BC and UTUC were much more prevalent in patients with less socioeconomic means and those living in rural areas. Varied comorbidities showed different distributions among urological cancers. Although the extent was most prominent in KC, both overall mortality and cancer-specific mortality of the three cancers increased every year during the follow-up period. Conclusion: Our results demonstrate different patient characteristics and mortality among BC, KC, and UTUC in Taiwan.