The age-standardized rate of female genital cancers in Iran: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Background & Aim: Female genital cancers are the third most common type of malignancy among women. Considering the importance of these cancers, the present study was conducted to determine the age-standardized rate (ASR) of female genital cancers in Iran. Methods & Materials: In this systematic review, six international databases (Medline/PubMed, ProQuest, Scopus, Embase, ScienceDirect, and Google Scholar), and four national databases (Scientific Information Database, MagIran, IranMedex, and IranDoc) were searched in 2017. Thereafter, Persian and English papers referring to the ASR of female genital cancers in Iran were included. The Joanna Briggs checklist was used to evaluate the quality of studies. Data were independently extracted by two reviewers. Results: A total of 264 papers were found in the initial search of the databases, and 27 papers were included for final analysis. Based on the random-effect model, the ASR was 2.07 (95% CI, 1.83-2.31) for cervical cancer, 3.15 (95% CI, 2.75-3.54) for ovarian cancer, and 1.52 (95% CI, 1.32-1.73) per 100,000 for uterine cancer. Conclusion: The ASR of female genital cancers in Iran was lower than other countries of the world. It should be noted that the results of this review must be judged with caution because of the high heterogeneity of the studies.