Geographical variation in Hodgkin lymphoma incidence patterns by histological subtype and sex: a population-based analysis of cancer registry data.

[BACKGROUND] Trends in subtype-specific Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) incidence across different populations remain understudied.

[METHODS] This population-based study utilized the GLOBOCAN 2022 database to estimate HL incidence and mortality across 185 countries in 2022. Long-term trends were assessed using the Cancer Incidence in Five Continents plus databases, which provide high-quality data from selected registries. Age-standardized incidence rates (ASIR) were calculated, and Joinpoint regression analysis was applied to examine trends in ASIR for HL by histological subtypes. The average annual percentage change (AAPC) was estimated for each category.

[RESULTS] For 2022, GLOBOCAN estimated 82 469 new HL cases, corresponding to an ASIR of 0.95 per 100 000 population. The highest ASIR and age-standardized mortality rates of HL in 2022 were observed in Europe and Africa, respectively. From 2003 to 2017, the countries with the largest increase in male HL incidence were Japan (AAPC: 6.0, 95% CI: 4.4-7.7), China (5.7, 3.7-7.6), and Latvia (4.2, 1.4-7.1). For females, the countries with the largest increase in HL incidence were Ecuador (9.3, 0.6-18.8), Japan (8.0, 6.0-10.1), and Kuwait (6.0, 0.4-11.9). From 2003 to 2017, the ASIR of nodular lymphocyte-predominant HL significantly increased in both sexes in Australia, Canada, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom (UK); the ASIR of nodular sclerosis HL increased in China, Croatia, Ireland, Japan, Latvia, and the Republic of Korea; and the ASIR of mixed cellularity HL increased in Japan and the UK.

[CONCLUSION] Observed subtype-specific HL trends appear multifactorial and, because our analyses largely reflect high-quality registries, should be interpreted cautiously in light of heterogeneous data quality and model-based estimates elsewhere.