Cancer Incidence in Southwest of Iran: First Report from Khuzestan Population-Based Cancer Registry, 2002-2009

Background: Cancer incidence rates are increasing particularly in developing countries. It is crucial for policymakers to know basic cancer epidemiology in each region to design comprehensive prevention plans. There havehitherto been no population-based data available for cancer in Khuzestan province. The present report is a firstfrom the regional population-based cancer registry for the period of 2002-2009. Materials and
Methods: Datawere collected retrospectively reviewing all new cancer patients whom were registered in Khuzestan provincecancer registry during an 8-year period (2002-2009). All cases were coded based on the ICD-O-3 coding systemand collected data were computerized using SPSS (Chicago, IL) software, version 11.5. The age standardizedincidence rates (ASRs) per 100,000 person-year for all cancers were computed using the indirect method ofstandardization to the world population.
Results: During the 8-year study period, 16,801 new cancer cases wereregistered. Based on the computed ASRs, the five most frequent malignancies in females were breast (26.4 per100,000), skin (13.6), colorectal (5.72), stomach (4.31) and bladder(4.07) and in males, the five most frequentwere skin (16.0 per 100,000), bladder (10.7),prostate (7.64), stomach (7.17), and colorectal (6.32).The ASR forall malignancies in women was 92.5 per 100,000, and that for men was 87.4.
Conclusions: The observed patternsfrom the analysis of Khuzestan cancer registry data will lead to better understanding of the epidemiology ofvarious malignancies in this part ofthe country and consequently provide a useful guide for authorities to makeefficacious decisions and policies about a cancer control program for south-west Iran.