Cancer of the kidney (ICD-9 189) 

The spatial incidence patterns for men and women were similar except in the sparsely populated northernmost parts of the mapped area. The rates were highest in Iceland (males 136/10⁶, females 84/10⁶) and the lowest in Belarus (males 49/10⁶, females 25/10⁶). In mortality, the variation was smaller. There was an urban excess in Belarus and Poland. The mortality/incidence ratio in both sexes was highest in Latvia and lowest in Norway.

The age-specific incidence after the age of 70 turned strongly downwards in Belarus and to a lesser extent in the Baltic countries. In Icelandic males there was a two-fold incidence in age-categories up to 50 years in comparison to all other countries, and there was and excess of young girls diagnosed with kidney cancer (Wilms tumours) in Iceland.

Kidney cancer is to some extent related to smoking. There are certain similarities between maps of kidney and lung cancers but also clear differences. Thus, factors other than smoking have a strong impact on the observed patterns.