Cancer Incidence in Kabul, Afghanistan: The First Report From the Population-Based Cancer Registry.

BACKGROUND

Establishing a population-based cancer registry is crucial for understanding cancer incidence, identifying risk factors, and developing effective cancer control programs. The Kabul Cancer Registry (KCR), Afghanistan's first population-based cancer registry, was established in 2018. The purpose of this study was to estimate the incidence of cancer in Kabul between 2018 and 2020.

METHODS

The KCR, adhering to International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) standards, actively collected data on new cancer cases from health facilities in Kabul between 2018 and 2020. We used CanReg5 software to calculate age-standardized incidence rates (ASIRs) by cancer site in males and females, using the direct method with Segi's World Standard Population.

RESULTS

The KCR recorded 4498 new cancer cases among Kabul residents, with a male-to-female ratio of 0.82:1. The overall ASIR was 44.3 per 100,000 person-years in males and 60.9 in females. The top five cancer sites in males were stomach (ASIR = 9.1), esophagus (ASIR = 5.5), colorectum (ASIR = 3.7), lymphoma (ASIR = 2.4), and liver (ASIR = 2.1). In females, the top five cancer sites were breast (ASIR = 14.9), esophagus (ASIR = 6.7), stomach (ASIR = 4.2), colorectum (ASIR = 3.8), and gallbladder (ASIR = 1.8). Childhood cancers (aged 0-14 years) represented 6.8% of all cancers, with leukemia accounting for 43.5% of the new cancer cases.

CONCLUSIONS

The high incidence of breast, stomach, and esophagus cancers highlights the need for policymakers and healthcare providers to develop cancer control programs focused on primary prevention, early detection, and quality diagnosis and treatment. Additionally, this study underscores the importance of cancer registries and emphasizes the need to strengthen the KCR to improve data quality.