Hodgkin's and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma: Analysis of population-based data from the eastern province of Saudi Arabia

ABSTRACT

In 1985 a computerized population-based tumour registry was initiated for the whole of the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia over a 2-year period [1987-1988]. This study was designed to analyse data on patients with Hodgkin's disease [HD] and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma [NHL]. The computerized population-based tumour registry data was reviewed to identify these patients with HD and NHL. We identified 40 patients with HD and 101 with NHL. Their mean age +/- SD was 30.8 +/- 19.5 and 44.1 +/- 22.9 years, respectively. Their median age was 32 years. Almost two-thirds of patients were Saudis and 73% were males; children below 10 years constituted only 2% of the whole series. The male to female ratios were 5.61 and 1.21 for HD and NHL, respectively. On average, NHL patients were older than those with HD and the oldest age-group among those with NHL were those with intermediate-grade histology. The census obtained for the Eastern Province allowed for the first time an estimation of the incidence rate per 100 000 for patients at various age-groups and different histology The crude incidence rate of HD and NHL per 100 000 was higher for non-Saudis [6.53] compared with Saudis [4.77] It was also higher in non-Saudi males [8.63 per 100 000] than in non-Saudi females [2.60 per 100 000]. The age-standardize incidence rates per 100000 for lymphosarcoma and Hodgkin's disease, was 8.4 and 2.8. The corresponding figure for Saudi females were 5.5 and 0.9. For non-Saudi males and females the figures were 15.5 and 1.2 [males] and 11 and 0.4. We conclude that the data about HD and NHL derived from our population-based registry serve as the first population-based information that can be compared with regional and other international data