Cancer occurrence in Semnan Province, Iran: results of a population-based cancer registry.

Introduction: suitable information of different cancers in special geographic areas can help define medical programs for treatment and screening of high-risk groups.

Aims And Methods: The provincial health authority reported a high mortality rate from upper GI cancer in the center of Iran. A comprehensive search was undertaken to survey and register all cases of cancer during a 5-year (1998-2002) period among the indigenous population of Semnan Province. Diagnosis of cancer was based on histopathology, clinical or radiological findings, and death certificates.

Results: A total of 1732 patients with cancers (mean age 59.41% +/-19.08% years) were found during the study. Of these, 936(54.86%) were in males. Crude rates were 124.8/100,000 and 112.1/100,000 for males and females, respectively. Age-standardized ratios (ASRs) for all cancers in males and females were 156/100,000 and 136/100,000 person-year, respectively. Gastric cancer was the most common tumor with an incidence rate of 19.7 per 100,000 people (ASR=27.5). In upper gastrointestinal cancers, gastric cancer was the most common (47.17%), followed by colon malignancies (8.1%, 9.5 per 100,000 populations), esophagus (6.8%, 7.9 per 100,000 populations), liver (2.4%, and 2.8 per 100,000 populations). In women, breast, uterine and ovary, stomach and skin were the most common cancers. In the child population the most common tumors were of the brain, acute lymphocytic leukemia, and bone.

Conclusion: Gastric cancer alone constitutes one-sixth of all cancers in Semnan, with the highest ASR incidence rate reported from Iran up to now.