Incidence Rates of Appendiceal Adenocarcinoma Increasing

MONDAY, June 16, 2025 (HealthDay News) — The incidence rates of appendiceal adenocarcinoma (AA) increased after 1945, according to a study published online June 10 in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

Andreana N. Holowatyj, Ph.D., from Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee, and colleagues estimated the incidence rates of AA across birth cohorts in the United States in a retrospective cohort study. The study included 4,858 persons aged 20 years or older when diagnosed with pathologically confirmed primary AA (nonmucinous, mucinous, goblet cell, or signet ring cell carcinoma) from 1975 to 2019. Twenty-one overlapping birth cohorts were created using five-year age groups and time periods (1891-1899 to 1991-1999).

The researchers found that among the 1980 birth cohort, the incidence rates of AA more than tripled (incidence rate ratio [IRR], 3.41), while they quadrupled among the 1985 birth cohort (IRR, 4.62) compared with the 1945 birth cohort. Across successive birth cohorts, age-specific incidence rates of AA increased after 1945 for all tumor histological types, although to varying degrees.

“The current absence of appendiceal cancer prevention and screening methods emphasizes the importance of efforts to support earlier detection in a rare cancer where clinical trials have been historically very limited,” the authors write.

Two authors disclosed ties to the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries.

Abstract/Full Text (subscription or payment may be required)