Benign gynecological tumors: estimated incidence. Results of the German Cohort Study on Women's Health.

OBJECTIVE

To analyze the lifetime incidence of benign gynecological tumors.

STUDY

DESIGN

The German Cohort Study on Women's Health was launched in 1998 as historic cohort study with prospective follow up. The study ascertained self-reported information on tumors by calendar time. The incidence of benign gynecological tumors was calculated from the data of the first cohort period.

RESULTS

The cohort comprised 396000 women-years of observation and 1676 benign tumors were observed. This lead to incidence estimates of 27.0, 18.6, and 23.3 per 100000 women-years of observation for all benign tumors of the uterus, ovary, and breast respectively.

CONCLUSION

In absence of other data, it is reasonable to use incidence rates generated by a large cohort of German women as a best estimate for the population up to 65 years of age.