Epidemiology of Nervous System Tumors According to WHO 2007 Classification: A Report of 1,164 Cases from a Single Hospital

The central nervous system (CNS) belongs to heterogeneous group of glial and non-glial brain tumors. Increase in the frequency of brain and CNS tumors in Iran have been a cause for debate and concern.
The aim of this study was to estimate the frequency of the principal CNS cancers, using CNS cancer data records in a 7-year period in a hospital in Mashhad, Iran.
This study is based on the records of department of surgical pathology, Razavi hospital, Mashhad, Iran. We analyzed 1,164 brain tumors and CNS cancers diagnosed from 2006 to 2013. It includes data on spinal cord tumors, primary brain such as lymphomas, which are hematological malignancies and metastatic tumors originating from external to the central nervous system. The frequency varies widely across this 7-year period.
The majority of brain tumor locations were frontal (13.2%), pituitary (11.7%), parietal (10.6%), Spinal (8.9%), Temporal (8%), and base of skull (6.3%). The most frequently reported histologies were meningiomas (33.6%) and glioblastomamultiforme (15.8%) that are strongly influenced the overall results. Higher numbers for glioblastoma, myxopapillaryependymoma, fibrillary astrocytoma, craniopharyngioma, hemangio-blastoma, oligodendro-glioma, and sarcoma were observed in male than in female patients. Meningioma, neurofibroma, and choroid plexus papilloma were the only tumors with a significant excess in female.
We noted that higher frequency of brain tumors and CNS cancers occurred at age group of 51 to 60 years. Although data are hospital-based, is the first study to delineate the brain tumors and CNS cancers burden in north-east of Iran by age, sex, histology type, anatomical site, and laterality.