Cancer Incidence and Mortality in the Industrial City of Sumgayit, Azerbaijan

Abstract

This study, the first environmental cancer study in Azerbaijan, addressed concerns that residents of the industrial city of Sumgayit have an increased cancer burden as a consequence of intense occupational and environmental pollution from industry. Vital statistics data were used to calculate annual crude cancer incidence and mortality rates for selected cancers and regions in Azerbaijan for the years 1980-2000. Poisson regression analysis of age- and sex-specific data from 1995-2000 demonstrates an increased risk for selected cancers in Sumgayit relative to the rest of the country, as measured by adjusted rate ratios [aRR (95% CI))]: larynx 1.39 (1.04, 1.85), lung 1.67 (1.44, 1.92), bladder 2.49 (1.93, 3.22), and all sites 1.51 (1.43, 1.58). Sumgayit appears to suffer from an increased cancer burden; poor data quality and suspected underreporting, however, prevent accurate estimates of incidence or mortality rates. Construction of a modern cancer registry would be prerequisite to more detailed examinations of cancer rates in the country.