Supplementary Material for: Mortality of Testicular Cancer in East and West Germany 20 Years after Reunification: A Gap Not Closed Yet

Background: The decline of testicular cancer mortality in East Germany began in the 1980s, about 10 years later than that recorded in West Germany. We aimed at providing up-to-date time trends of testicular cancer mortality rates in Germany. Material and Methods: Mortality data from East Germany (1971-2010) and West Germany (1954-2010) were provided by the Federal Bureau of Statistics. We estimated age-specific and age-standardized mortality rates using the World Standard Population. Results: Despite the declining trend in the 2000s, the mortality rates of testicular cancer remained higher in East than in West Germany. These rates were 5.5 and 2.6 per million person-years in 2010, respectively. Age-specific mortality trends by period and birth cohort showed that the mortality decline was larger among younger (15-44 years) than elderly men. Conclusion: The mortality of testicular cancer is still higher in East than West Germany. Despite very similar densities of hospital beds, urologists and oncologist per million male population in both parts of Germany, we hypothesized that a paucity of centers of expertise for treating testicular cancers in the East could account for this particular pattern.

背景：东德的睾丸癌死亡率下降始于20世纪80年代，比西德晚约10年。本研究旨在提供德国睾丸癌死亡率的最新时间趋势。材料与方法：东德（1971-2010年）和西德（1954-2010年）的死亡率数据由联邦统计局（Federal Bureau of Statistics）提供。本研究采用世界标准人口（World Standard Population）估算年龄别死亡率与年龄标准化死亡率。结果：尽管2000年代呈下降趋势，但东德的睾丸癌死亡率仍高于西德。2010年两地的死亡率分别为每百万人年5.5和2.6例。按时期与出生队列划分的年龄别死亡率趋势显示，年轻男性（15-44岁）的死亡率降幅大于老年男性。结论：东德的睾丸癌死亡率仍高于西德。尽管德国东西两地区每百万男性人口拥有的病床数、泌尿科医师与肿瘤医师密度极为相近，但本研究推测，东德缺乏睾丸癌诊疗专科中心或许是这一特定现象的成因。