Cancer incidence in southern Iran, 1998-2002: results of population-based cancer registry

Purpose: The main aim of this study was to obtain population-based cancer incidence data for the entire population of Fars province in Iran, and to compare these rates with those obtained from a previous study in the same population ten years previously. Methods: Data were collected on all patients in major cities of Fars province who were diagnosed with cancer between 1998 and 2002. The data were computerized using SPSS (Chicago, IL) software, version 13.0, and MS EXCEL (Microsoft, Redmond, WA) software with Persian fonts. The results are presented as incidence rates of cases by site, sex, age, crude rates, and age-standardized rates per 100,000 person-years (ASRs), using the direct method of standardization to the world population. Results: During the 5-year study period, 8359 new cancer cases were registered. Diagnosis of cancer was based on histopathological criteria in 86.7%, clinical or radiological criteria in 9.4% and death certificate only in 3.9% of cases. According to the calculated ASRs, the 5 most frequent cancers in women were breast (13 per 100,000), stomach (4.4 per 100,000), lung and bronchus (2.9 per 100,000), uterus (2.7 per 100,000), and colon and rectum (2.6 per 100,000); and in men, the 5 most frequent types were stomach (9.2 per 100,000), bladder (6.8 per 100,000), lung and bronchus (6.3 per 100,000), lymphocytic leukemia (4.1 per 100,000), and skin melanoma (3.8 per 100,000). The ASR for all cancers in men was 64.5 per 100,000, and that for women was 55.5 per 100,000. Conclusion: Considering the limitations of this study, our results should be taken as the minimum incidence rates of cancers in Fars province, southern Iran. Significant differences were observed between the two study periods. However, we most likely have underestimated the frequencies of some tumors.