RESUMO
Background. Cancer is not a notifiable disease in India. The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) initiated the National Cancer Registry Programme in 1982 to measure the burden and pattern of cancer in India. However, no data were available from the northeastern region till 2001 when a WHOsponsored, ICMR project showed a relatively high frequency of microscopically diagnosed cases of cancer in the region. A population-based cancer registry was established in January 2003 in Guwahati to cover the Kamrup Urban district in the northeastern region of India. We report the data generated in the first 6 years of the registry (2003–08). Methods. Information on cancer was obtained by voluntary participation of different sources including major hospitals, diagnostic centres, state referral board and birth and death registry centres within the registry area. A total of 6608 cases were registered during the 6-year period (1 January 2003– 31 December 2008); 3927 were men and 2681 women. Results. The age-adjusted incidence rates were 167.9 per 100 000 among men and 133.8 per 100 000 among women. The oesophagus was the leading site of cancer among men, comprising 18.3% of all cancers with an age-adjusted rate of 30.7 per 100 000. Among women, the breast followed by the cervix uteri were the leading sites of cancer. These two cancers comprised 30% of all cancers among women. Tobacco-related cancers accounted for 58.2% of cancers among men and 26.9% of cancers among women. Conclusion. The patterns observed from the analysis of data from the cancer registry at Guwahati provide comprehensive information on occurrence of cancer and can be valuable for planning cancer control programmes in the region.