Patterns of cancer at a tertiary cancer center in Kerala, India, based on 10-years of hospital-based cancer registry data: A retrospective observational study

Abstract

ABSTRACT Background: The magnitude and pattern of cancer cases vary across different hospital-based cancer registries (HBCRs) in India. Currently, the clinical and epidemiological profiles of cancer cases are not available for the North Malabar region of Kerala, India. Objectives: The primary objective of this study was to evaluate the magnitude and pattern of cancer cases in the North Malabar region of Kerala, India. The secondary objective was to evaluate the trends of cancer cases based on 10-year HBCR data from a tertiary cancer center in the North Malabar region of Kerala, India. Materials and Methods: This retrospective observational study was conducted on patients who were registered at the HBCR of Malabar Cancer Center in the northern region of Kerala. The demographic and clinical profile of patients with cancer who registered at the HBCR between January 2010 and December 2019 was obtained using a prescribed format developed by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR). Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the data, and a line diagram was used to represent the trends of the five most common cancers in males and females. Results: Between 2010 and 2019, 38,836 patients were registered. Among them, 20,829 (53.6%) were males and 18,017 (46.4%) were females. Lung cancer was the most common cancer among males and breast cancer was the most common cancer among females. The median age at diagnosis of lung cancer was 64 years (interquartile range [IQR], 58-70). Similarly, the median age at diagnosis of breast cancer was 52 years (IQR, 44-60). Conclusion: The five most common sites of cancer among males were the lung, mouth, stomach, tongue, and larynx. In females, the most common cancers were breast, cervix uteri, ovary, mouth, and lung. During these ten years, the common cancers in both males and females showed an upward trend.