title: Incidence, Trends and Epidemiology of Cancers in North West of Iran.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Cancer is a leading cause of death throughout the world. Increasing life expectancy and aging population are important factors for increasing cancer incidences in developing countries. National programs are essential for prevention and control of cancer in any society. This study aimed to investigate cancer epidemiology and trends in the province of Hamadan, located in Northwest Iran.
  
  
  METHODS
  This analytical study was carried out based on cancer registry data from 2004 to 2009 in the province of Hamadan, analyzed using STATA (version 12) software for descriptive tests and Join point 4.1.1.1 software for analytical tests.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There were 7,767 registered cases of cancer during the 6 years studied. Of the total cases registered, 59.1% (4,592 cases) involved men and 40.9% (3,175 cases) occurred in women. Age-standardized incidence rates (ASR) increased from 72.9 to 132.0 in males and 48.2 to 115.0 in females during the 6 years of the study (p<0.001). The most common cancers were skin, stomach, breast, bladder, and leukemia. In women, teh most common were breast, skin, stomach, colorectal, and leukemia, in that order, and in men skin, stomach, bladder, leukemia, and prostate cancers.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The cancer incidence is greater in men that women in this region but with increasing trends in both sexes. Planning regarding education in prevention of exposure to risk factors and control strategies is required to decrease the incident cases. Screening programs for common cancers in older age groups might be helpful to reduce the disease impact.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, Faculty of Health, Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences, Yazd, Iran E-mail : alesaleh70@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Atefeh
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Zahedi
authors.forename: Hosein
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Rafiemanesh
authors.forename: Mostafa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Enayatrad
authors.forename: Mahshid
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ghoncheh
authors.forename: Hamid
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Salehiniya
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007492:Iran / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D017720:Molecular Epidemiology; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology*; D011379:Prognosis; D012042:Registries / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012307:Risk Factors