ABSTRACT
Reliable information about comparative cancer incidence in the Middle East has been lacking. The Middle East Cancer Consortium (MECC) has formed a network of population-based registries with standardized basic data. Here the age-adjusted cancer incidences are compared for four populations: Israeli Jews, Israeli non-Jews, Jordanians and the US Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) population, for the years 1996-1997 (Israel) and 1996-1998 (other populations). The all-sites rate of cancer is approximately twice as high in Israeli Jews and SEER, compared with Israeli non-Jews and Jordanians. Rates of lung cancer are similar among Israeli Jews and non-Jews and about twice as high as in Jordanians. Childhood leukaemia rates in Jordan are higher than in Israeli Jews, but lower than SEER. Hodgkin lymphoma rates in Israeli non-Jews and Jordanians are similar to SEER, but non-Hodgkin lymphoma rates are lower than SEER. The previous suspicion of higher overall leukaemia and lymphoma rates in Jordan is thus not confirmed.
Subject(s)
Neoplasms/epidemiology , Registries/statistics & numerical data , Registries/standards , SEER Program , Adolescent , Adult , Aged , Aged, 80 and over , Child , Child, Preschool , Female , Humans , Incidence , Infant , Infant, Newborn , Israel/epidemiology , Jews , Jordan/epidemiology , Leukemia/epidemiology , Lymphoma/epidemiology , Male , Middle Aged , Reproducibility of ResultsABSTRACT
This project signals an advance in cancer registration in the Middle East region. While it is too early to declare a major breakthrough, significant strides have been made toward establishing a basis for reliable information on the cancer burden at a population level and future collaborative efforts in cancer epidemiologic research and prevention.
