Burden of Breast Cancer in Iranian Women is Increasing

Abstract

<b>Background:</b> Breast cancer (BC) is the leading cause of oncological death for women, in both developed anddeveloping countries. In Iran, breast cancer ranks first among cancers diagnosed in women. The aim of this studywas to present the burden of this cancer including incidence, mortality and years life lost (YLL) due to breastcancer in Iranian women. Materials and <br/><b>Methods</b>: National incidence data from the Iranian annual NationalCancer Registration reports from 2003 to 2009 and national death statistics reported by the Ministry of Healthand Medical Education from 1995 to 2010, stratified by age group, were included in this analysis. Also calculatedYLLs provided by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) for the years 1990, 1995, 2000, 2005and 2010 were employed to express the years lost due to BC for Iranian women. <br/><b>Results</b>: The general mortalityrate of breast cancer increased during these years from 0.96 to 4.33 per 100,000 and incidence increased from 16.0to 28.3 per 100,000 for the years under study. YLLs calculated by IHME showed both increasing and decreasingpatterns, with a tendency for stabilization. <br/><b>Conclusions</b>: The burden of breast cancer for Iranian women is stillincreasing. Thus, health education programs to inform women regarding the signs and risk factors, and nationalscreening to facilitate early diagnosis are needed for the female community in Iran.