The Trend of Esophageal Cancer Incidence in Iran

Introduction: Cancer is one of the main causes for mortality and morbidity in the world. Identifying epidemiology and the trend of esophageal cancer may be highly effective in related planning. The present study has been carried out with the aim of exploring the morbidity and trend of esophageal cancer in Iran. Methods: The present study is a type of repeated analysis of the existing data. The population of this study consisted of the cancer registry data during the years (2003-2009) in Iran. The direct incidence rate was standard according to the World Health Organization (WHO) population. The incidence trend of this disease in this country was drawn by the means of the STATA software and the significance of the morbidity trend diagram was also derived via WINPEPI software. Results: The results indicated the increasing trend of esophageal cancer up to 2008 while this trend has been dropping during the years 2008-9. The 31914 cases of esophageal cancer which have been recorded throughout the country out of which this rate has been increased from 2759 cases in 2003 to 6210 cases in 2009 so this rate signifies 2 times in morbidity and the recording of cases. During this 7-year career, the maximum incidence rate was related to the Ardabil province with 19.03 per 100’000 cases in 2009 while the minimum incidence rate was related to Chahar Mahal and Bakhtiari and also Booshehr provinces with 0.48 and 0.42% per 1000 cases in 2003, respectively. Conclusion: The incidence rate of esophageal cancer in Iran is increasing, particularly in the northern and northwestern regions of the country. It is recommended to employ screening programs and premature diagnosis in the regions and among high risk populations.