Background:
Cancer is the Fourth cause of mortality in developing countries the correct and valid information about the epidemiology of this disease is the first step in the planning of health care in each region
Aim:
The aim of this study was to determine the relative frequency, mean age and sex ratio of 10 common non-skin cancers in the world and Iran among patients referred to the Clinic of Oncology
Methods:
This descriptive study was conducted in Mashhad, north east of Iran data obtained from the records of patients referred to the private oncology center between the years 1985-2012. According to the latest report of GLOBOCAN study malignancies included lung, breast, colorectal, prostate, stomach, liver, cervix, esophageal, bladder cancers and Non-Hodgkin lymphoma
Results:
A total of 4606 cases were analyzed. The mean age was 55.56 ± 13.80years (male: 59.54±13.94, female: 52.64 ± 12.93). Overall, breast cancer (1264 cases, relative frequency of 27.4%) was the most prevalent cancer; however the mean ages of diagnosis were not significantly different between 5-year time period divisions (p=0.290). The most common cancer in men was esophageal cancer (26.3%).The lowest mean age was related to women diagnosed with breast cancer (48.51±11.81) and men with Non-Hodgkin lymphoma (48.46±17.88). There were statistically significant differences between the mean age of men and women with gastric (p = 0.003) and esophageal cancer (p < 0.0001). Male to female sex ratio in our study for bladder, lung and stomach cancers were 6.57, 2.6 and 2.5 respectively
Conclusions:
The results showed that breast cancer tends to be found in younger patients and bladder cancer appears more often in men. Screening in target population and early diagnosis may reduce death or disabilities