Cancer epidemiology in the Philippines

Based on 16,492 cancer cases recorded at the Central Tumor Registry of the Philippines from July 1968 to June 1973, an epidemiologic analysis was conducted. Age-adjusted incidence rates for cancer of all sites in the Philippines, the United States, and Japan were similar. Cancers of the lung and breast were the leading sites in males and females, respectively. Age-specific incidence rates by each site were compared for the Philippines, the United States, and Japan. Cancers of the oral cavity, nasopharynx, liver, lung, breast, cervix, ovary, and thyroid and malignant lymphoma occurred with higher frequency in the Philippines. The more education people had, the more likely they were to develop cancers of the lung, pancreas, bladder, prostate, breast, and ovary, whereas cancers of the stomach, skin, esophagus, oropharynx, tongue, and mouth were more common in individuals who had not completed high school. Among smokers, neoplasms of the lung, larynx, tongue, mouth, liver, esophagus, and oropharynx occurred with significantly higher frequency. Epidemiologic implications and significance of these results for cancer control were discussed.