Neoplasms in the Navy, 1998-2000: a descriptive analysis of the Physical Evaluation Board database

Records with diagnoses for neoplasms (International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification, codes 140-239) contained in the U.S. Navy Physical Evaluation Board database for 1998 to 2000 were identified (n = 427 cases, 342 malignant and 85 benign). The four most common sites of occurrence were other and unspecified sites (27%), lymphatic and hematopoietic tissues (22%), benign neoplasms (20%), and genitourinary organs (12%). Crude overall cancer rates were 37.7 cases per 100,000 male subjects and 55.4 cases per 100,000 female subjects. Overall, Hodgkin's disease was the most common diagnosis, with a rate of 3.3 cases per 100,000 population. It also had the highest rate among male subjects, with 3.5 cases per 100,000 male subjects of all ages and 4.2 cases per 100,000 men more than 40 years of age. For women, breast cancer had the highest rate of 8.5 cases per 100,000 subjects. These values are consistent with or lower than the published reports of U.S. Navy and national rates. Ongoing surveillance of malignancies among Navy personnel is an important part of force health protection.