Burden of renal cell carcinoma: A population-based real-world study of incidence, prevalence, and demographic disparities.

Abstract

e16530 Background: Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is the most common primary malignancy of the kidney and contributes substantially to the global cancer burden. However, contemporary real-world data describing longitudinal trends in RCC incidence and prevalence across demographic groups remain limited. Methods: We conducted a population-based incidence and prevalence analysis using the TriNetX Global Collaborative Network, a federated electronic health record platform comprising 168 healthcare organizations worldwide. Adults aged 18 to 89 years with at least one clinical encounter were included. RCC was defined using the ICD-10-CM code C64 (malignant neoplasm of kidney, except renal pelvis). Two time windows were evaluated: January 1, 2010, to December 31, 2015, and January 1, 2016, to December 31, 2025. A lookback period extending from database inception to one day before each time window was applied to distinguish incident from prevalent cases. Outcomes included incidence proportion, prevalence, and incidence rate (cases per person-day), stratified by age, sex, race, and ethnicity. Results: Among 133,787,756 eligible individuals, RCC incidence increased from 0.11% in 2010–2015 to 0.18% in 2016–2025, representing a relative increase of approximately 60%. Prevalence rose from 0.14% to 0.23% over the same periods. Incidence rates increased from 0.000000947 to 0.00000140 cases per person-day. RCC incidence showed a strong age-dependent gradient, peaking in individuals aged 65 to 74 years. Males had consistently higher incidence than females across both decades. Racial disparities were observed, with the highest incidence among White and American Indian or Alaska Native populations. Non-Hispanic individuals had higher RCC incidence and prevalence compared with Hispanic individuals. Conclusions: In this large real-world analysis, RCC incidence and prevalence increased substantially over the past decade, with persistent age-, sex-, race-, and ethnicity-based disparities. These findings highlight the growing population-level burden of RCC and underscore the need for targeted prevention and early detection strategies.