title: Lymphomas in Golestan province of Iran: results of a population-based cancer registry.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Malignancies of lymphoid cells can be divided into Hodgkin and non-Hodgkin lymphomas (NHL) on the basis of pathologic features, clinical manifestations and treatment. In this paper we present data on lymphomas in Golestan province, in the northeast of Iran, during 2004-2006, using three years results of the Golestan population-based cancer registry (GPCR), a voting member of the International Association of Cancer Registries (IACR).
  
  
  METHODS
  GPCR started collecting data on all cancers from all public and private diagnostic and therapeutic centers (hospitals, specialist physicians' offices, pathology, laboratory, and imaging centers) of Golestan province in 2004. Here, we used the Iranian national census data to identify the population characteristics of this geographical area. The last census was done in 2006 and the next one will be done in 2011. The population data for years between the national census intervals are retrieved from provincial census done annually by health deputy of Golestan University of Medical Sciences (GOUMS).
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 5,076 cancer cases were diagnosed in the GPCR between 2004 and 2006. Of these, 237 (4.67 %) were lymphomas, among the ten top cancers of this area, the patients having a mean (± SD) age of 45.2 (± 20.9) years. The number of cases, frequency, age specific rates, crude rates and age standardized incidence rates (ASR) (per 100,000 person-years) for lymphomas in males and females are presented.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  It could be concluded that according to available therapies for HL and NHL, the outcome of the patients could be improved in this area, due to the better diagnostic and therapeutic methods now available.
authors.affiliation: Digestive Disease Reserach Center(DDRC), Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Gholamreza
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Roshandel
authors.forename: Shahryar
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Semnani
authors.forename: Mohsen
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Aarabi
authors.forename: Abbasali
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Keshtkar
authors.forename: Amirhossein
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Noohi
authors.forename: Laily
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Najafi
authors.forename: Sima
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Besharat
authors.forename: Abdolvahab
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Moradi
authors.forename: Khodaberdi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kalavi
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007492:Iran / Q000453:epidemiology; D008223:Lymphoma / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012042:Registries; D055815:Young Adult