Common Cancers Among Kurdish People in the Northwest of Iran: Current Status and Future Prospects

Abstract

Northwest of Iran is a high-risk area with the highest annual incidence of cancers. Despite the growing epidemic of incidence of cancers, little information is available about that in the Kurdistan region. This was a cross-sectional epidemiological study during 2010-2015. The crude incidence rates (CRs) and age-standardized incidence rates (ASRs) were calculated per 100,000 people by different categories. Of 9218 patients, 5320 (57.71%) were male. The mean ages were 63.4 (± 21.43) and 55.8 (± 18.50) for male and female, respectively. The most common cancer (cases/100,000, percentage) among male gender was stomach cancer (24.23, 22%) and among female gender was breast cancer (18.38, 24%). Besides skin cancer, other most common cancers were bladder (12.33, 11%), colorectal (11.78, 11%), and esophageal (11.14, 10%) cancers in men. Esophageal (9.57, 13%), colorectal (8.68, 11%), and stomach (8.34, 11%) were the common cancers among women. The overall ASR of cancers was 94.98 and 131.99 per 100,000 among females and males. The standard sex ratio (male to female) was 1.39. Broadly applying effective prevention measures such as vaccination, use of early detection tests, awareness campaign, and lifestyle modifications could be adopted by local health authority for the reduction of such important public health priority.