Pancreatic Cancer in Iran: an Epidemiological Review

Pancreatic cancer is the seventh cause of death in men in the world and also is one of the most common malignancies worldwide with poor prognosis. Due to the lack of epidemiological aspects of pancreatic cancer in Iran, this study aimed to investigate the epidemiological aspects of pancreatic cancer in Iran.

In February 2019, A search was conducted with the keywords "Pancreatic Neoplasm," "Pancreas Neoplasms," "Cancer of Pancreas," "Pancreas Cancer," "Pancreatic Cancer," "Cancer of the Pancreas," and "Iran" in their title or abstract and MeSH. The databases of Medline, Web of Science, Scopus, SID, IranMedex, and Google Scholar were searched. The title and abstract of the papers were reviewed, and articles that addressed the epidemiological aspects of pancreatic cancer were included; in total, 20 full papers were reviewed.

According to studies, the incidence and mortality rate of pancreatic cancer is steadily increasing with age. Actually, men are more likely to develop this carcinoma than women. Smoking, aging, and lifestyle changes are the most important risk factors for pancreatic cancer in Iran. Due to the lack of initial symptoms or a specific marker for early diagnosis of pancreatic cancer, this cancer is detected lately and therefore low survival rate is observed.

Mortality and incidence of pancreatic cancer is increasing in Iran. Pancreatic cancer is more common in men than women. Based on the results of this study, pancreatic cancer depends largely on the lifestyle. Survival of pancreatic cancer is low in untreated patients.