Download PDF
CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 · South Asian J Cancer 2020; 09(03): 147-152
DOI: 10.1055/s-0040-1721291
Original Article: Cancer Epidemiology and Screening

Cancer in Lebanon: A Review of Incidence Rates from 2008 to 2015 and Projections Till 2025

Hussein H. Khachfe
1   Faculty of Medicine, American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon
2   Neuroscience Research Center, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Lebanese University, Beirut, Lebanon
,
Zahraa Rahal
1   Faculty of Medicine, American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon
,
Julie Sammouri
1   Faculty of Medicine, American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon
,
Mira Kheil
1   Faculty of Medicine, American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon
,
Hussein Baydoun
1   Faculty of Medicine, American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon
,
Dana Chatila
1   Faculty of Medicine, American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon
,
Hiba Dirawi
1   Faculty of Medicine, American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon
,
Fouad M. Fouad
3   Faculty of Health Sciences, American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon
› Author Affiliations Funding Nil.
› Further Information
   Permissions and Reprints

Abstract

Background and Objectives Cancer carries one of the heaviest burdens globally in terms of mortality. Lebanon is a middle-income Middle East country also plagued with cancer, as such a study and analysis of cancer trends and projections would serve a great benefit in the fight against the disease.

Materials and Methods All data pertaining to cancers in Lebanon were extracted from the National Cancer Registry of Lebanon Web site. Data were analyzed to produce trends over the years of our study (2008–2015). Ten-year projections were further calculated for the top cancers by the primary site using logarithmic models.

Results The top cancers in Lebanon are the breast, lung, colorectal, bladder, and prostate. The top cancers affecting females are the breast, lung, and colorectal. The top cancers affecting males are the prostate, lung, and bladder. Cancer cases are projected to increase in Lebanon over the next 10 years.

Conclusion Lebanon had a steady incidence rate of cancer cases during the time of our study. A more complete understanding of cancer trends and their ultimate reduction will require further research into the origins of specific cancers and the means of prevention and control.

Keywords

cancer - epidemiology - Lebanon - Middle East - neoplasia - North Africa


Publication History

Article published online:
14 December 2020

© 2020. MedIntel Services Pvt Ltd. This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonDerivative-NonCommercial-License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commercial purposes, or adapted, remixed, transformed or built upon. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

Thieme Medical and Scientific Publishers Pvt. Ltd
A-12, Second Floor, Sector -2, NOIDA -201301, India

 

  • References

  • 1 Fitzmaurice C, Allen C, Barber RM. et al. Global, regional, and national cancer incidence, mortality, years of life lost, years lived with disability, and disability-adjusted life-years for 32 cancer groups, 1990 to 2015: a systematic analysis for the global burden of disease study. JAMA Oncol 2017; 3: 524-548
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 2 Khachfe HH, Salhab HA, Fares MY, Khachfe HM. Current state of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy clinical trials. Glob Heart 2019; 14 (03) 317-325
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 3 Clegg LX, Reichman ME, Miller BA. et al. Impact of socioeconomic status on cancer incidence and stage at diagnosis: selected findings from the surveillance, epidemiology, and end results: National Longitudinal Mortality Study. Cancer Causes Control 2009; 20 (04) 417-435
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 4 Jemal A, Center MM, DeSantis C, Ward EM. Global patterns of cancer incidence and mortality rates and trends. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2010; 19 (08) 1893-1907
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 5 Bouchardy C, Rapiti E, Benhamou S. Cancer registries can provide evidence-based data to improve quality of care and prevent cancer deaths. Ecancermedicalscience 2014; 8: 413
    PubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 6 Andersen MR, Storm HH. Eurocourse Work Package 2 Group. Cancer registration, public health and the reform of the European data protection framework: abandoning or improving European public health research?. Eur J Cancer 2015; 51 (09) 1028-1038
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 7 Charafeddine MA, Olson SH, Mukherji D, Temraz SN, Abou-Alfa GK, Shamseddine AI. Proportion of cancer in a Middle eastern country attributable to established risk factors. BMC Cancer 2017; 17 (01) 337
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 8 Fares MY, Salhab HA, Khachfe HH, Khachfe HM. Breast cancer epidemiology among Lebanese women: an 11-year analysis. Medicina (Kaunas) 2019; 55 (08) E463
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 9 Salhab HA, Fares MY, Khachfe HH, Khachfe HM. Epidemiological study of lung cancer incidence in Lebanon. Medicina (Kaunas) 2019; 55 (06) E217
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 10 Shamseddine A, Saleh A, Charafeddine M. et al. Cancer trends in Lebanon: a review of incidence rates for the period of 2003-2008 and projections until 2018. Popul Health Metr 2014; 12 (01) 4
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 11 Fares Y, Fares J. Neurosurgery in Lebanon: history, development, and future challenges. World Neurosurg 2017; 99: 524-532
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 12 Khachfe HH, Refaat MM. Bibliometric analysis of cardiovascular disease research activity in the Arab world. Int Cardiovasc Forum J 2018; 15: 25-28
    Google Scholar
  • 13 Adib SM, Daniel J. Ministry of Public Health National Cancer Registry Cancer in Lebanon 2003 in National Cancer Registry. Beirut, Lebanon: 2006
    Google Scholar
  • 14 Khachfe HH, Salhab HA, Fares MY, Khachfe HM. Probing the colorectal cancer incidence in Lebanon: an 11-year epidemiological study. J Gastrointest Cancer 2019; •••: E463
    Google Scholar
  • 15 Ministry of Public Health. National Cancer Registry of Lebanon. Ministry of Public Health; 2018
    Google Scholar
  • 16 Dyba T, Hakulinen T. Comparison of different approaches to incidence prediction based on simple interpolation techniques. Stat Med 2000; 19 (13) 1741-1752
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 17 El Asmar M, Bechnak A, Fares J. et al. Knowledge, attitudes and practices regarding breast cancer amongst Lebanese females in Beirut. Asian Pac J Cancer Prev 2018; 19 (03) 625-631
    PubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 18 Lakkis NA, Adib SM, Osman MH, Musharafieh UM, Hamadeh GN. Breast cancer in Lebanon: incidence and comparison to regional and Western countries. Cancer Epidemiol 2010; 34 (03) 221-225
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 19 Gupta S, Gupta A, Saini AK, Majumder K, Sinha K, Chahal A. Prostate cancer: How young is too young?. Curr Urol 2017; 9 (04) 212-215
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 20 Schröder FH, Hugosson J, Roobol MJ. et al. ERSPC Investigators. Screening and prostate-cancer mortality in a randomized European study. N Engl J Med 2009; 360 (13) 1320-1328
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 21 Force UT. Final Recommendation Statement. Prostate Cancer: Screening; 2017
  • 22 Wilt TJ, Brawer MK, Barry MJ. et al. The Prostate cancer Intervention Versus Observation Trial:VA/NCI/AHRQ Cooperative Studies Program #407 (PIVOT): design and baseline results of a randomized controlled trial comparing radical prostatectomy to watchful waiting for men with clinically localized prostate cancer. Contemp Clin Trials 2009; 30 (01) 81-87
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 23 Haddad FG, Kattan J, Kourie HR. El Rassy E, Assi T, Adib SM. Geriatric cancer trends in the Middle-East: findings from Lebanese cancer projections until 2025. J Geriatr Oncol 2018; 9 (02) 120-123
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 24 Khattab A, Javaid A, Iraqi G. et al. BREATHE Study Group. Smoking habits in the Middle East and North Africa: results of the BREATHE study. Respir Med 2012; 106 (02) S16-S24
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 25 Rahal Z, El Nemr S, Sinjab A, Chami H, Tfayli A, Kadara H. Smoking and lung cancer: a geo-regional perspective. Front Oncol 2017; 7: 194
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 26 International Agency for Research on Cancer. World Cancer Report. International Agency for Research on Cancer; 2014
    Google Scholar
  • 27 Chaouachi K. A critique of the WHO TobReg’s “Advisory Note” report entitled: “Waterpipe tobacco smoking: health effects, research needs and recommended actions by regulators”. J Negat Results Biomed 2006; 5: 17
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 28 Tamim H, Al-Sahab B, Akkary G. et al. Cigarette and nargileh smoking practices among school students in Beirut, Lebanon. Am J Health Behav 2007; 31 (01) 56-63
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 29 Primack BA, Sidani J, Agarwal AA, Shadel WG, Donny EC, Eissenberg TE. Prevalence of and associations with waterpipe tobacco smoking among U.S. university students. Ann Behav Med 2008; 36 (01) 81-86
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 30 Aljarrah K, Ababneh ZQ, Al-Delaimy WK. Perceptions of hookah smoking harmfulness: predictors and characteristics among current hookah users. Tob Induc Dis 2009; 5 (01) 16
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 31 World Health Organization. Ambient Air Pollution: A Global Assessment of Exposure and Burden of Disease. World Health Organization; 2016
    Google Scholar
  • 32 Hilal N, Fadlallah R, Jamal D, El-Jardali F. Approaching the Waste Crisis in Lebanon: Consequences and Insights into Solutions, in Knowledge to Policy (K2P) Center. Beirut, Lebanon: American University of Beirut; 2015
    Google Scholar
  • 33 Temraz S, Haibe Y, Charafeddine M, Saifi O, Mukherji D, Shamseddine A. The unveiling of a new risk factor associated with bladder cancer in Lebanon. BMC Urol 2019; 19 (01) 16
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 34 Freedman ND, Silverman DT, Hollenbeck AR, Schatzkin A, Abnet CC. Association between smoking and risk of bladder cancer among men and women. JAMA 2011; 306 (07) 737-745
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 35 Fraser GE, Shavlik D. Risk factors, lifetime risk, and age at onset of breast cancer. Ann Epidemiol 1997; 7 (06) 375-382
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 36 Naja F, Hwalla N, Itani L, Baalbaki S, Sibai A, Nasreddine L. A novel Mediterranean diet index from Lebanon: comparison with Europe. Eur J Nutr 2015; 54 (08) 1229-1243
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 37 Naufal Rizkallah H, Moneim AA. The drop in fertility in Lebanon. Population (Paris) 1997; •••: 1224-1233
    Google Scholar
  • 38 Fares MY, Salhab HA, Khachfe HH, Fares Y, Fares J. Sports Medicine in the Arab world. In: Handbook of Healthcare in the Arab World. Cham: Springer; 2019
    Google Scholar
  • 39 Khachfe HH, Zayyoun FJ, Sharif-Askari E, Ramadan W, Hallal N, Khachfe HM. Effect of leishmaniasis on the performance of elementary school students a case study among Syrian refugees in some Bekaa (Lebanon) area schools. J Epidemiol Glob Health 2019; 9 (04) 266-273
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 40 Khachfe HH, Sammouri J, Salhab HA, Fares MY, El-Najjar R. Maternal mortality and health in the Arab World: A 25-year epidemiological study. J Obstet Gynaecol Res 2019; 45 (12) 2369-2376
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar