ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To describe the most common cancers diagnosed in Barbados in 2008. DESIGN AND METHODS: All malignant neoplasms diagnosed in 2008 were ascertained by trained data abstractors via hot pursuit, mainly at the single tertiary public hospital, the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH), but also from private hospital and clinics. Demographic (e.g. sex, age, vital status) and other data, including site of primary tumour, histology and treatment, were collected and abstracted directly onto laptops, using the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC)s CanReg software, version 5. RESULTS: A total of 1106 persons (597 men; 509 women) were diagnosed with malignant cancers in Barbados and registered with the National Registry in 2008. Skin was the second leading site among men and women (27% of cases). With the exclusion of skin cancer, prostate and breast cancers were the principal cancers in men (204; 49%) and women (131; 34%) respectively, followed by colorectal cancers (123; 15% of cases). The third most common site for women was the uterus (40; 10%), followed by the cervix (18; 5%) and stomach (13; 3%). For men, other top sites included the lung (21; 5%), stomach (18; 4%) and pancreas (12; 3%). The age-standardised incidence rates per 100,000 population (ASRs; world standard) for prostate and breast cancer in 2008 were 113.9 and 63.5, respectively. CONCLUSION: Prostate and breast cancers were the most common cancers diagnosed in Barbados in 2008
