Rates among servicemen also lower for regional and distant metastases
By Elana Gotkine HealthDay Reporter
MONDAY, Dec. 9, 2024 (HealthDay News) — The incidence rates of soft tissue sarcoma (STS) are lower among servicemen than men in the general U.S. population, according to a study published online Dec. 9 in Cancer.
Julie A. Bytnar, Dr.P.H., from the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, Maryland, and colleagues compared the incidence of STS from 1990 to 2013 between active‐duty servicemen in the Department of Defense Automated Central Tumor Registry (ACTUR) and men in the National Cancer Institute Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) program, aged 18 to 59 years.
The researchers found that STS incidence rates were lower in ACTUR than SEER overall and for 18- to 39-year-old men (incidence rate ratio [IRRs], 0.86 and 0.78, respectively). Incidence rates were also lower by race (IRRs, 0.85 and 0.77 for Whites and Blacks, respectively), for sites other than skin/connective/soft tissue (IRR, 0.49), for other specified histologies and for unspecified histology (IRRs, 0.84 and 0.57, respectively). Even when stratified by race and age, rates were lower in ACTUR for regional and distant metastases (IRRs, 0.37 and 0.58, respectively). For 40- to 59-year-old men and localized tumors, rates were higher in ACTUR (IRRs, 1.25 and 1.16, respectively).
“We found lower incidence rates and earlier‐stage STS disease among active‐duty military servicemen than the general U.S. population. This may result from earlier detection and treatment, better baseline health, and access to health care,” the authors write.
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