LUNG-CANCER IN THE EASTERN REGION OF SAUDI-ARABIA - A POPULATION-BASED STUDY

There are no population-based studies on cancer in Saudi Arabia, where lung cancer is readily emerging as a common cancer-related death. Thi s work is aimed at describing the incidence of lung cancer in the popu lation of the Eastern Region of Saudi Arabia, A population-based tumor registry was established in 1987. Data on all cancer sites were captu red from all 22 hospitals in the Eastern Region. The population census for 1988 was derived from a door-to-door survey. Relative frequency r ates were used to compare our data with nationally reported data deriv ed from hospital-based registries. Crude incidence rates, age-specific incidence rates, age-standardized rates adjusted to the world standar d population, and relative age-standardized rates were used for intern ational comparisons. A total of 107 cases of primary lung cancer were registered in 1987 and 1988. Saudis constituted 80% of these cases. Th e observed overall relative frequency rate of 6.9% was the highest in Saudi Arabia. Similarly, the relative frequency rates among males of a ll nationalities (9.8%), Saudi males (10.7%), and Saudi males register ed from the Dhahran Health Center (15%) were higher than those reporte d in other regions in Saudi Arabia. The relative frequency rate among Saudi females registered from the Dhahran Health Center (7.3%) was sig nificantly higher than that from other regions in Saudi Arabia. Among Saudi males, lung cancer was the leading cause of cancer death (25.6%) , and the second cause (9.7%) among Saudi females in the Eastern Regio n. The crude incidence rate of lung cancer per 100,000 population per year was 6.5 for Saudi males and 1.3 for Saudi females. The age-standa rdized rates per 100,000 population per year were 16.5 for Saudi males and 4.0 for Saudi females. Among Saudi males, cancer of the lung was the leading cause of morbidity and mortality from cancer of all sites. The relative frequency rate of lung cancer has increased among cancer patients from Saudi ARAMCO's Dhahran Health Center during the past 40 years. This is attributed to an increased number of tobacco smokers a nd increased environmental pollutants from industry and gasoline-drive n vehicles. The crude incidence rate and age-standardized rate of lung cancer in the Eastern Region are very low compared with those reporte d from developed countries, This can be explained by the young Saudi p opulation in the Eastern Region, and the relatively recent history of cigarette smoking and industrialization in Saudi Arabia. A plea is mad e for a smoke-free society and a cleaner environment to prevent the in coming creeping epidemic of lung cancer.