Gender Differences in Esophagus, Stomach, Colon and Rectum Cancers in Fars, Iran, During 2009-2010: An Epidemiological Population Based Study

Cancer is the third cause of death in Iran. Gender is an important covariate for incidence of most cancers. So، epidemiological data on Gender differences related to common cancers provide good evidence in control of cancers. The aim of this study was providing population-based information on the gender differences in incidence rates and epidemiology of esophagus، stomach، colon and rectum cancers in the Fars province.

This study was a secondary data analysis. We studied registered esophagus، stomach، colon and rectum cancers cases in Fars from 2009 to 2010. Direct Annual Age Standardized Incidence Rates (AASIRs) were estimated for men and women. Using STATA software، Females AASIRs and truncated AASIRs at 25 years (TIRR) were compared with males considering age، dominant morphology ratio and tumor grade.

Six hundered fourteen cases were studied. The numbers of registered esophagus، stomach، colon and rectum cancers were 78 (%12. 7)، 254 (%41. 4)، 182 (%29. 6) and 100 (%16. 3)، respectively. Two hundred thirty one (%37. 5) cases were women and 383 (%62. 5) were males. TIRR (female/male) for esophagus، stomach، colon and rectum cancers were 0. 68 (0. 43-1. 07)، 0. 42 (0. 32-0. 54)، 0. 71 (0. 53-0. 96)، 0. 92 (0. 62-1. 36)، respectively. There were significant relationships between age and gender (p=0. 046)، tumor grade (p=0. 050) and morphology (p=0. 004) in case of stomach cancer. For colon cancer age and tumor morphology were significantly related (p=0. 019).

Risk of Stomach and Colon cancers in females were lower than males in Fars Province. Male gender was a risk factor for stomach adenocarcinoma.