Cancer Unveiling: A Profile of Incidence and Trends in Bam City, Southeast Iran

Cancer is one of the leading causes of mortality and morbidity worldwide. According to the report from the Iranian Ministry of Health, cancer ranks as the third most common cause of death in Iran. Consequently, acquiring information about cancer statistics and their trends is crucial for cancer prevention and control. In this study, we examined the trends and epidemiology of cancer in Bam City, Iran, from 2014 to 2019.

This cross-sectional study was conducted using cancer registry data spanning from 2014 to 2019 in Bam, located in Kerman Province. Common cancers were determined based on the reported number of cancer cases and age-standardized rates. Data analysis was performed using SPSS (version 22) and GraphPad Prism (version 9).

In this study, we examined 1,290 cases of cancer registered in Bam City, Kerman Province, from 2014 to 2019. Of our study population, 42.8% (552 cases) were women. The sex ratio (male to female) for all cancers during the 6-year study period was 1.34. The highest number of cancer cases among men occurred in 2016, while among women, it was in 2017. The age-standardized incidence rate did not display a clear increasing or decreasing trend; instead, we observed fluctuations over the 6-year period for both sexes. Notably, the age-standardized incidence rate trend for males consistently remained higher than that for females.

Fluctuations of the trend in our study can be attributed to reasons such as referral of cases to other cities with better medical facilities and weakness in the cancer registration system of deprived areas such as Bam. Nevertheless, to reduce the burden of cancer, each individual should be aware of the most preventable risk factors, such as an unhealthy lifestyle and occupational exposure. To achieve this goal, the government should prioritize improving the accuracy and completeness of cancer registry centers.