Cancer incidence in Suriname from 1980 through 2000 a descriptive study

Current data on the epidemiology of cancer in the Republic of Suriname are scant and incomplete. In this study, incidence rates of the histopathologically confirmed malignancies in the country from 1980 through 2000 were inventoried.

Numbers of diagnoses, as well as patient information, were acquired from the Pathology Laboratory. The General Bureau of Statistics of Suriname provided relevant demographic information. For each year, crude incidence and sex-specific rates were calculated for: cancer overall; the most frequent cancer sites; age strata 0-19, 20-49, and 50+ years; as well as for the presumably largest, second largest, and third largest ethnic group, viz. the Hindustani, Creole, and Javanese. From these data, average rates were calculated, which were expressed as mean +/- SD per 100,000 population per year, or per 100,000 males or females per year.

Average yearly crude and sex-specific incidence rates for cancer overall were 70 +/- 12: 59 +/- 9 for men and 83 +/- 12 for women. The leading cancer sites were cervix uteri (sex-specific rate of 22.1 +/- 5.1) as well as gastrointestinal tract, breast, hematological system, prostate, head and neck, lung, and liver (sex-specific rates ranging from 2 to 17). The relatively high rate of cervical cancer was for an important part responsible for the 1.4-fold female over male overall cancer excess. Incidence rates of most cancers increased from age group 20-49 years on, being highest after age 50+ years, but hematological malignancies occurred in all age groups with rates of 1-3 new cases per 100,000 males or females per year. Cancer was in general 2-6 times more common in Creole than in Hindustani and Javanese. However, cervical cancer was seen as often in Hindustani as in Creole. Most cases of primary liver cancer involved, besides Creole of both genders, Javanese males. Thyroid cancer occurred more frequently in Hindustani women.

The data from the study suggest that the incidence profile of cancer in Suriname may resemble that of most developing countries. It was relatively low for cancer overall as well as for most individual sites, but relatively high for cervical cancer, thus producing the characteristic female over male excess. More detailed studies on the peculiarities in the ethnic distribution of cancer may help to shed more light on the etiology of certain malignancies.