34P Sex and age differences in primary lung cancer in Morocco: An epidemiologic study

Abstract

Background: Lung cancer is a leading cause of death worldwide. In Morocco, it is the most commonly occurring cancer in men. The aim of this study is to determine the epidemiological and histological profile of primary lung cancer in Rabat (capital of Morocco) over a 4-year period, from 2014 to 2017, by sex and age. Methods: This is a descriptive retrospective study of all patients with primary lung cancer diagnosed and treated at Ibn Sina University Hospital Center in Rabat during the period from January 2014 to December 2017. The data were collected from medical records for each patient. Statistical analysis was performed using Epi InfoTM7. Results: During the period of study, 574 new cases of primary lung cancer were diagnosed. Of these, 87.5% were men and 12.5% were women, giving a male-female ratio of 7. The average age of patients at diagnosis was 58.4 years (range 21–85 years). There was no significant gender difference in average age. The age distribution show that 19.9% of patients were aged less than 50 years, 29.7% were in the 50–59-year age group, 33.8% were aged between 60 and 69 years and 16.5% were aged 70 years and older. According to the results, 7.3% of lung cancers were small cell lung cancer (SCLC) and 90.9% were non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Adenocarcinoma was the most frequent cell type of lung cancer, with 60.45%, followed by squamous cell carcinoma, with 23%. According to gender, adenocarcinoma was more common in women (70.8%) than in men (58.4%), while squamous cell carcinoma was relatively frequent in men (24.7%) than in women (11.1%). There was no significant difference in age of diagnosis, by histological type of lung cancer. Conclusions: Lung cancer is a serious and potentially deadly disease in Morocco. It is important to develop strategies that take into account the current trends in lung cancer and target particularly groups at risk. Legal entity responsible for the study: The authors. Funding: Has not received any funding. Disclosure: All authors have declared no conflicts of interest.