Abstract: Objective To describe the incidence and mortality of prostate cancer in China and countries with varying levels of the Human Development Index (HDI). Methods Data pertaining to prostate cancer were extracted from the GLOBOCAN 2022 database. Spearman rank correlation analysis was employed to examine the associations between the HDI and the standardized incidence rate (SIR), standardized mortality rate (SMR), and the mortality-to-incidence (M/I) ratio. Descriptive epidemiological methods were utilized to analyze the epidemiological characteristics within each HDI stratum and for China. Results In 2022, the global SIR for prostate cancer was 29.4 per 100 000, and the SMR was 7.3 per 100 000. For China, the SIR was 9.7 per 100 000, and the SMR was 3.3 per 100 000. The SIRs for prostate cancer in countries or regions with very high, high, medium, and low HDI were 57.7, 18.6, 9.9, and 22.9 per 100 000, respectively; the corresponding SMRs were 9.1, 5.6, 4.7, and 14.0 per 100 000, respectively. Both China's SIR (9.7 per 100 000) and SMR (3.3 per 100 000) were lower than the averages for the high-HDI stratum to which it belongs. The M/I ratio exhibited an increasing trend across the very high, high, medium, and low HDI strata. China's M/I ratio (0.36) was higher than that of its high-HDI group (0.32). A positive correlation was observed between the HDI and the prostate cancer SIR (r_s=0.45,P<0.01), whereas negative correlations were found with the SMR (r_s=-0.22,P<0.01) and the M/I ratio (r_s=-0.84,P<0.01). Conclusions ignificant disparities exist in the incidence and mortality of prostate cancer among countries with different HDI levels. Although China exhibits a relatively low SIR and SMR, its elevated M/I ratio necessitates the development of targeted screening and control strategies.

Key words: Prostate cancer, Incidence and mortality, Human Development Index, Standardized incidence rate, Standardized mortality rate, Mortality-to-incidence ratio