Cancer incidence in Iran in 2014: Results of the Iranian National Populationbased Cancer Registry

We aimed to report, for the first time, the results of the Iranian National Population-based Cancer
Registry (INPCR) for the year 2014.
Methods: Total population of Iran in 2014 was 76,639,000. The INPCR covered 30 out of 31 provinces (98% of
total population). It registered only cases diagnosed with malignant new primary tumors. The main sources for
data collection included pathology center, hospitals as well as death registries. Quality assessment and analysis
of data were performed by CanReg-5 software. Age standardized incidence rates (ASR) (per 100,000) were
reported at national and subnational levels.
Results: Overall, 112,131 new cancer cases were registered in INPCR in 2014, of which 60,469 (53.9%) were
male. The diagnosis of cancer was made by microscopic confirmation in 76,568 cases (68.28%). The ASRs of all
cancers were 177.44 and 141.18 in male and female, respectively. Cancers of the stomach (ASR=21.24),
prostate (18.41) and colorectum (16.57) were the most common cancers in men and the top three cancers in
women were malignancies of breast (34.53), colorectum (11.86) and stomach (9.44). The ASR of cervix uteri
cancer in women was 1.78. Our findings suggested high incidence of cancers of the esophagus, stomach and lung
in North/ North West of Iran.
Conclusion: Our results showed that Iran is a medium-risk area for incidence of cancers. We found differences in
the most common cancers in Iran comparing to those reported for the World. Our results also suggested geographical
diversities in incidence rates of cancers in different subdivisions of Iran.