Cancer incidence attributable to tobacco smoking in GCC countries in 2018

The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) member countries include Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and United Arab Emirates. The current study aims to provide an estimate of the population fractions of cancer cases attributable to tobacco smoking in the GCC countries.

Population attributable fraction (PAF) was calculated for cancers that were listed by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) to have sufficient evidence of causal association. The estimated number of incident cancer cases in GCC countries were retrieved from the IARC GLOBOCAN database. The prevalence estimates of current tobacco smoking among persons aged ≥15 years were obtained from the World Health Organization report on prevalence of tobacco smoking. Relative risk estimates for various cancers were obtained from published meta-analyses. Summary PAFs and cancer cases attributable to tobacco smoking are reported by country, sex, and cancer type.

Tobacco smoking was responsible for 2536 (16.3%) of cancer cases in GCC countries in 2018. It accounted for 22.8% (n=2396) and 2.8% (n=140) of cancer cases among males and females, respectively. Among males, the highest number of cancer incident cases attributable to smoking was lung cancer (807) followed by urinary bladder (328), and colorectal cancer (305). Among females, the highest number of cancer cases attributable to smoking was lung cancer (62) followed by lip and oral cavity (13), and cervical cancer (13).

Tobacco smoking accounted for a large portion of cancer cases attributable to preventable risk factors in GCC countries. Preventive efforts focusing on reducing tobacco smoking should be a high priority in GCC countries.