Cancer in Iraq: 2000-2004

Abstract

Background. Little is known about the frequency of various childhood cancers in Iraq. The aim of this paper is to report the frequency of childhood cancers in Iraq in the largest series of Iraqi patients with cancer. Patients and methods. In the largest series of 63,923 Iraqi patients with different types of newly diagnosed cancer registered by the Iraqi Ministry of Health from all Iraqi provinces with exception of 3 Northern provinces (Sulaimanyia, Erbil, and Dohouk) during a five-year period (2000-2004), 5,049 cases of cancers occurred in children under 14 years of age accounting for approximately 8% of all cancer cases in Iraq. Results. Leukemia is by far the commonest childhood cancer in Iraq, accounting for 33% of childhood cancers. The other most frequent childhood cancers are: Hodgkin lymphomas (HL), central nervous system neoplasms, Non-Hodgkin lymphomas (NHL), renal tumors, bone tumors, retinoblastomas, soft tissues tumors, adrenal gland tumors, and tumors of testis and ovary. Conclusion. The pattern of childhood cancer in Iraq is slightly different from the patterns in other countries. A higher frequency of leukemias than in most other countries is observed.