Five years cancer incidence in Aden Cancer Registry, Yemen (2002-2006)

The population-based Aden Cancer Registry (ACR) started its activities in 1997. The objective of the registry is to establish a reliable magnitude of cancer in the area covered and the first report was published in 2003. The present article describes data from the second report of cancer incidence over a five year period (2002-2006). Internationally accepted standardized cancer registration methodologies described by IACR and IARC were used. CanReg-4 using ICDO-3 and ICD-10 were applied in the data processing and analysis. Results showed no difference in the overall incidence between the males and females (ratio was 0.83:1) and age standardized rate s(ASR) per 100,000 inhabitants were 30.2 and 31.1. The five most common cancers were breast cancer, leukemia, non-Hodgkin's lymphomas (NH lymphoma), brain cancer and Hodgkin's disease (16.6%, 12.6%, 7.8%, 5.2% and 4.4%, respectively). Among males, leukemia was the first followed by NH lymphoma, Hodgkin's disease, brain and liver. In females, breast was the first, then leukemia, NH lymphoma, thyroid and brain cancer. The highest ASR for males (145 per 100,00 inhabitants) was observed at age 70-74 years whereas for females, two peaks (each 105 per 100,000 inhabitants) were equally noticed at age 60-64 and 70-74 years. Generally, females showed equal or higher incidence compared to males until age 55-59 where males reported higher incidence. The overall pattern of cancer incidence in this report is not much different from that in the previous report. Furthermore, the report generally indicates that the pattern of the most common registered cancer bears some similarities with the adjacent Gulf Cooperation Council States with which we share many characteristics, despite differences that warrant further investigation.