Epidemiology of the breast cancer patients registered at Institute of Radiotherapy and Nuclear Medicine, Peshawar, Pakistan

Abstract

In Pakistan, malignant diseases are increasing day by day, but no epidemiological cancer study on large scale has been designed. The main objective of this study was to provide a baseline data on frequency, morphological types, gender and age distribution etc., of breast cancer in North-West Frontier Province and Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan, and to compare it with the published data. In this context, 2134 breast cancer patients (2059 female and 75 male) registered at Institute of Radiotherapy and Nuclear Medicine, Peshawar from 1995 to 2001, were studied. Crude incidence, standardized incidence ratios (SIR, world) and age-specific incidence rates (ASIR) were determined both for male and female patients. Same morphological distribution was found in both genders. Moreover, breast cancer was found to be the most common malignancy among the women (96.49%). Male to female breast cancer ratio was found to be 3.5 times higher than the reported data. The highest ASIR of approximately 10.6/100,000 per year among women was observed in the age group of 55-59 years. In men, the highest ASIR of 0.84/100,000 per year was observed in the age group of 65-69 years. The SIR (world) for women was 3.15/100,000 per year, while for male this was 0.13/100,000 per year.