Trends in Incidence of Prostate Cancer in Iran and Its 31 Provinces During 2003 - 2016

Background: Prostate cancer is the most common malignancy in men, which is the second leading cause of cancer-related death. The prevalence of prostate cancer in Iran is lower than in Western and European countries. Objectives: Our study presents an updated incidence rate of prostate cancer in Iran and its provinces, displays its trends, and adds its spatial distribution to the literature. Methods: We investigate the age-standardized incidence rates (ASIRs) per annum of prostate cancer from 2003 to 2016 in Iran, using the data of the cancer registration available by the Ministry of Health and Medical Education. Crude incidence rates were calculated by dividing incident cases by the population of the whole country and each province which was available on the website of Iran Statistic Center. Age standardization was done by the World Health Organization (WHO) standard population and presented according to age and province. Results: The crude number of incident prostate cancer cases in Iran was 49 188 between 2003 and 2016. Age-standardized incidence rate of prostate cancer showed an increasing trend from 4.46 in 2003 to 18.44 per 100 000 in 2016. Mazandaran (29.57 per 100 000 in 2008) and Esfahan (27.5 per 100 000 in 2016 and 26.51 per 100 000 in 2015) were provinces with the highest reported ASIRs, while Sistan and Baluchestan province had the lowest mean of ASIR (1.59 per 100 000) in the period of the study. Conclusions: The incidence of prostate cancer displays an increase of more than 4 times at the end of the study period. However, the increase in coverage of data recording and greater access to diagnostic tests during these years are effective in the reported ASIRS, but the steep slope in the incidence trend of prostate cancer compared to other cancers in Iran shows its capacity to become one of the health problems that underscore the necessity of implementation of control and prevention programs, especially in high-incidence provinces.