Epidemiology of cancer in Mazandaran province 2006

Background and Cancer is the second most common cause of death in developed countries and third in less developed countries. The incidence of the different histological types of cancer varies greatly between various populations and is attributed to occupational, social, cultural, racial, and geographic influences. The objective of this study was to determine and register all cases of cancer among population of Mazandaran province, during the year of 2006.Characteristics of all registered malignancies were obtained from records in histopathology and radiology clinical, hospitals and deaths certificated in Mazandaran using the International Classification of Disease (ICD), with data being analyzed using ASR, Excel and spss soft ware.A total of 2.399 patients with cancers were found during this study. These, 1.321(55.06%) were males and 1.078 (44.94%) females. Age standardized rate (ASR) for all cancers in males and females were 112.91/100000 and 104.59/100000 Respectively. The most common malignancies among females were breast (23.38%), skin (11.78%), colon and rectum cancers (10.30%).In men, stomach (42.41%), skin (15.59%) and esophagus (9.08%) were the most common cancers respectively. Infiltrating duct carcinoma, was the most common histopathological types of tumors (69.35%) in breast cancer. The most common morphology in stomach cancer was adenocarcinoma, (54.67%). Distribution of malignant disorders in our population is different from other regions. Therefore, it appears necessary to have a valid health policy for prevention. Consequently, it is necessary to have a valid health policy for prevention and control of this problem.