Epidemiologic Assessment of Cancer Disease in East Azerbaijan 2007.

In molecular and cellular biology viewpoint, cancer is indicted to some of rare diseases with similar molecular defects in cell function. In Iran, cancer is third cause of death following cardiovascular disease and accidents. The aim of the present study was to identify epidemiological features and geographical distribution of different types of cancer in East Azerbaijan province. In a descriptive –analytic and cross sectional study, demographic and specific information including biopsy location and type of tumor was derived from medical documents of 29 pathology centers in Tabriz. These data were then compared among age groups and between men and women. Total number of 4945 patients was diagnosed with cancer. The proportion of male to female was 1.38 to 1. According to the result of this study, stomach cancer was the most prevalent cancer in East Azerbaijan. The second and third most prevalent cancers were skin cancers and bladder cancer, respectively. Since pattern of prevalent cancers is different in Iran, considering the particular risk factors of each cancer type is important. More studies are suggested to be carried out considering the specific risk factors of three most prevalent cancers in the province with focus on life style, dietary habits and effort to find unknown risk factors.