The Burden of Cancer in a Sample of Iranian Population

We aimed at estimating the burden of cancer in Kurdistan Province, western Iran during 2011-2017.

In this cross-sectional study, incidence data extracted from the cancer registry system and death data were extracted from the system of registration and classification of causes of death of Kurdistan Province. We applied the WHO’ methods to calculate the disability-adjusted life year (DALYs).

The burden of cancer increased from a DALYs of 12309 in 2011 to 13969 in 2017, the YLL from 11644 in 2011 to 12951 in 2017 and the YLD from 665 in 2011 to 1018 in 2017. The top five cancers, according to DALYs (%) in both sex during 2011-2017 were: stomach (25%), lung (14%), liver (9%), esophagus (6%), and colon (6%). The most burden of cancer related to gastrointestinal tract (54% vs. 45%). Totally, more than 25% of DALYs were related to stomach cancer.

The increasing DALYs of cancer in Kurdistan Province is one of the major public health concerns as in most developed countries. More than half of the burden of cancer in the Kurdistan Province is related to gastrointestinal tract. Stomach cancer, is accounting for more than 25% of the burden in both sexes. Urgent policy, management and public health measures such as general education, screening, early detection and effective treatment are recommended to reduce the burden of cancers and especially gastrointestinal tract malignancies.