Demographic Survey of Four Thousand Patients with 10 Common Cancers in North Eastern Iran over the Past Three Decades

Background: Cancer is a major cause of mortality in developing countries and correct and valid informationabout the epidemiology of this disease is the first step in the planning of health care in each region. The aim of thisstudy was to determine the relative frequency, mean age and sex ratio of the most 10 common non-skin cancersin the world and Iran, among patients referred to an oncology clinic. Materials and
Methods: This descriptivestudy was conducted in Mashhad, north east of Iran. The data obtained from the records of patients referredto the private oncology center between the years of 1985-2012.” According to the latest report of GLOBOCANstudy commonest malignancies included were lung, breast, colorectal, prostate, stomach, liver, cervix, esophageal,bladder cancers and Non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
Results: A total of 4,606 cases were analyzed. The mean age was55.5±13.8years (male: 59.5±13.9, female: 52.6±12.9). Overall, breast cancer (1,264 cases, relative frequency of27.4%) was the most prevalent cancer; however the mean ages of diagnosis were not significantly different between5-year time period divisions (p=0.290). The most common cancer in men was esophageal cancer (26.3%).Thelowest mean age was related to women diagnosed with breast cancer (48.5±11.8) and men with non-Hodgkinslymphoma (48.4±17.8). There were statistically significant differences between the mean age of men and womenwith gastric (p=0.003) and esophageal cancers (p<0.001). Male to female sex ratios in our study for bladder, lungand stomach cancers were 6.57, 2.60 and 2.50 respectively.
Conclusions: The results showed that breast cancertends to be found in younger female patients and bladder cancer appears more often in men. Screening in targetpopulation in addition to early diagnosis may reduce death and disability.