Age Distribution of Cancer in Jamaica 2008

Objective: To investigate the age distribution of cancer occurrence in Jamaica during 2008. Methods: The distribution of cancer in Jamaica was investigated in the year 2008. The study included all fourteen parishes. Data was obtained from the Jamaica Cancer Registry located in the Pathology Department of the University of the West Indies. Population denominators were obtained from the 2011 census taken by the Statistical Institute of Jamaica. The statistical package which was used to analyze the data was SPSS. Results: A total of 2491 cases of cancer were examined across all parishes. It was determined that the crude incidence rate (178.6) was largest in Kingston and St Andrew. In St. Catherine, St. Thomas, Clarendon, Portland, St. Mary and Manchester the crude incidence rates were 118.9, 80.9, 67.7, 62.3, 58.1 and 54.8 respectively. Hence there were parishes such as St. Thomas and St. Mary having large crude incidence rates. It was determined in 2008 that the leading cancers in Jamaica were the following in descending order, prostate cancer, cancer of the breast, cancer of the cervix, cancer of the lung, cancer of the colon and metastatic disease. Conclusion: When all cancer cases in Jamaica for 2008 were considered, the highest frequency occurred in the age group 65 to 69 years. The mean age at which cancer was diagnosed was 59.1 years.