Population based cancer incidence in various geographical regions of Nepal – 2015

In recent years, due to the application of modern technology for the diagnosis of cancer, numbers of cancer cases are found to be increasing day by day in Nepal. But it is hard to assess the burden of cancer in national context based on available data. The available hospital based information neither shows the magnitude of the problem nor there has been any community-based study in the past. First time in Nepal, population based Cancer registry (PBCR) was started in 15 districts of three ecological regions; Mountain, Hills and plan land, which covered the 25.8% of total population of the nation. This study includes data from fifteen districts of the country located in Terai, Hills and Himalaya. Therefore, upshot of this study can be used to deduce an overall situation of cancer in Nepal. For the process of population based cancer registration, cancer cases were reported from various data source institutions in the year 2015. Among them, the cases were verified by name, age, sex and topography/morphology of diseases. Out of projected areas and multiple entries were excluded from data base and total 2950 cases were analyzed for the purpose. The mean age at diagnosis was found to be 52.8 years. The most frequent form of cancer for both sexes was bronchus & lung (12.9%), followed by cervix uteri (10.9%), and breast (9.1%). Among the female cases, cervix uteri cancer (19.2%) was the most common followed by breast (15.7%) and bronchus & lung cancer (10.9%). Similarly, bronchus & lung cancer (15.6%) was the most common cancer among males, followed by stomach (6.6%) and larynx cancer (4.9%). The most prevalent age group (60-64 years) in male was found to be 12.8%, while in female of same age group was 13.4%.