Kidney cancer trends and risk factors in Lebanon: a 12-year epidemiological study.

PURPOSE

Lebanon has witnessed an increase in the rates of several cancer subtypes over the last years. The aim of this study is to examine the incidence rates of kidney cancer in Lebanon over 12 years and to compare them to other countries.

METHODS

Data were collected from the Lebanese National Cancer Registry (NCR) for the time period 2005-2016 (inclusive). Data from other countries were retrieved from an online database "Cancer Incidence in Five Continents." The age specific and age-standardized rates (ASR) were calculated and analyzed using Joinpoint regression.

RESULTS

Kidney cancer ranked as the 10th commonest cancer among men and the 19th among women. An age-standardized rate of 3.54 (per 100,000) was obtained. The average ASR was 4.80 for men and 2.27 for women. Kidney cancer showed a significantly rising trend for both genders. Lebanon had the highest ASR for kidney cancer in men and the third highest in women among regional countries.

CONCLUSION

Lebanon presented an average-to-high ASR for kidney cancer compared to regional countries. However, compared to countries worldwide, Lebanon had a below-average ASR. Nonetheless, with the rising kidney cancer trends, it is important to study the associated risk factors in order to develop proper preventive and screening measures and therefore decrease the incidence rates.