53% cancer cases among women, says MoH report

MUSCAT: Out of the 2,000 cancer cases reported in Oman, 53 per cent were females, the report issued by the Ministry of Health stated.

The Ministry of Health, represented by the National Cancer Registry issued recently its annual Cancer Incidence Report in Oman 2017. According to the report, 127 cases were registered among Omani children belonging to the age group of 14 years and below.

The National Cancer Registry (NCR) report indicates that the breast cancer is the most common cancer among females in the Sultanate, followed by thyroid cancer, and colorectal cancer, while the most common cancer types among males are first colorectal cancer followed by the prostate and then the Non-Hodgkin lymphoma disease.

The report indicated that the number of recorded tumour cases in 2017 reached 2,101 cases including 90.05 per cent cases among Omanis, 8.95 per cent cases among residents, and 0.9 per cent cases of carcinoma in situ among Omanis.

The number of cancer cases among Omani males reached 887 which equal to 46.9 per cent compared to 53.1 per cent cases among Omani females with a total of 1,005 cases. MoH said: “Cancer incidence among females in the Sultanate reached 114.2 cases per 100,000 while cases among males were 113.3 cases per 100,000 population, according to the World Population Standard.” The NCR provides reliable and fundamental source in cancer treatment and control programmes for decisions makers. It was established in 1985 to offer a database in cancer surveillance as well as a tool in collecting and disseminating population-based statistics in the Sultanate. Since 1996, the Ministry has been keen on publishing periodically cancer incidence rates reports.