Cancer Incidence Rates in Turkey in 2006: A Detailed Registry Based Estimation

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to provide a detailed report on cancer incidence in Turkey, a relatively large country with a population of 72 million. We present the estimates of the cancer burden in Turkey for 2006, calculated using data from the eight population based cancer registries which have been set up in selected provinces representative of sociodemographic patterns in their regions. Methods: We calculated age specific and age adjusted incidence rates (AAIR–world standard population) for each of registries separately. We assigned a weighting coefficient for each registry proportional to the population size of the region which the registry represents. Results: We pooled a total of 24,428 cancers (14,581 males, 9,847 females). AAIRs per 100 000 were: 210.1 in men and 129.4 in women for all cancer sites excluding non-melanoma skin cancer. The AAIR per 100 000 men was highest for lung cancer (60.3) followed by prostate (22.8), bladder (19.6), stomach (16.3) and colo-rectal (15.4) cancers. Among women the rate per 100 000 was highest for breast cancer (33.7) followed by colorectal (11.5), stomach (8.8), thyroid (8.8) and lung (7.7). The most striking findings about the cancer incidence in the provinces were the high incidence rates for stomach and esophageal cancers in Erzurum and high stomach cancer incidence rates in Trabzon for both sexes. Conclusions: We are thus able to present the most accurate and realistic estimations for cancer incidence in Turkey so far. Lung, prostate, bladder, stomach, colorectal, larynx cancers in men and breast, colorectal, stomach, thyroid, lung, corpus uteri cancers in women are the leading cancers respectively. This figure shows us tobacco related cancers, lung, bladder and larynx, predominate in men. Concurrently, we analyzed the data for each province separately, giving us the opportunity to present the differences in cancer patterns among provinces. The high incidences of stomach and esophageal cancers in East and high incidence of stomach cancer in Northeast regions are remarkable.