Burden of tobacco-related cancers in urban, semi-urban and rural setting of Nepal: Findings from population-based cancer registries 2019.

BACKGROUND: Nepal is one of the high prevalent countries for tobacco use in Southeast Asia regions. Tobacco related cancer share the major burden since a decade, however, population-based estimates is still lacking. This study provides results from population-based cancer registries on tobacco-related cancer (TRCs) burden in Nepal. METHODS: The data were collected by population-based cancer registry conducted in nine districts by Nepal Health Research Council. The districts were categorized in urban, semi-urban and rural regions on the basis of geographical locations and facilities available in the regions. Analysis was done to identify tobacco-associated cancer incidence, mortality and patterns along with cumulative risk of having cancer before the age of 75 years. RESULTS: Tobacco-related cancer was 35.3% in men and 17.3% in women. We found that every one in 36 men and one in 65 women developed tobacco-related cancer before age 75 in Nepal. Cancer of lung, mouth, esophagus and larynx were among the five most common tobacco-related cancers in both men and women. The incidence of tobacco-associated cancers was higher in urban region with age adjusted rate 33.6 and 17.0 per 100,000 population for men and women respectively compared to semi-urban and rural regions. Tobacco-associated cancer mortality was significantly higher compared to incidence. CONCLUSION: The prevalence of tobacco-related cancer found high in Nepal despite of enforcement of tobacco control policy and strategies including WHO framework convention on tobacco control. Concerned authorities should focus towards monitoring of implemented tobacco control policy and strategies.

Differences in cancer incidence and pattern between urban and rural Nepal: one-year experience from two population-based cancer registries.

Variations in cancer incidence, mortality and pattern exist in rural and urban areas. Understanding these differences helps in developing targeted cancer prevention and control strategies. However, no previous studies have explored the differences in cancer demographics between the rural and urban areas of Nepal. The data of Kathmandu Valley (urban area) Population-Based Cancer Registry (PBCR) and Rukum (rural area) PBCR were analysed to identify the differences in cancer pattern in rural and urban areas. The age-adjusted incidence rate (AAR) in Kathmandu was higher than that in Rukum (1.6 times among males and 1.9 times among females). The top two leading sites in males were lungs and stomach in both the regions; however, the rates were higher in Kathmandu. The incidence rate for cancer of the urinary bladder among males in Kathmandu was particularly higher - 4.4 times that of Rukum. In females, the leading site of cancer in Kathmandu was breast, which was eight times higher compared to Rukum, whereas the incidence rate of cervix cancer in Kathmandu is 30% less than in Rukum. The incidence of tobacco-related cancer was found to be higher in Kathmandu compared to Rukum. These findings reveal the need for different policy priorities for cancer control in the urban versus rural regions of Nepal, based on the different demographics of cancer in the two areas. Similar studies from other regions of Nepal are needed to develop a targeted cancer control strategy.

Epidemiologic Pattern of Cancer in Kathmandu Valley, Nepal: Findings of Population-Based Cancer Registry, 2018.

PURPOSE: Although cancer is an important and growing public health issue in Nepal, the country lacked any population-based cancer registry (PBCR) until 2018. In this study, we describe the establishment of the PBCR for the first time in Nepal and use the registry data to understand incidence, mortality, and patterns of cancer in the Kathmandu Valley (consisting of Kathmandu, Lalitpur, and Bhaktapur districts), which comprises 10.5% of the estimated 29 million population of Nepal in 2018. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The PBCR collects information from facilities and communities through the active process. The facilities include cancer or general hospitals, pathology laboratories, hospice, and Ayurvedic centers. In the communities, the field enumerators or female community health volunteers collected the data from the households. In addition, the Social Security and Nursing Division under the Department of Health Services, which provides subsidy for cancer treatment of underprivileged patients, was another major source of data. The collected data were verified for residence, accuracy, and completeness and then entered and analyzed using CanReg5 software. RESULTS: In the Kathmandu Valley, the PBCR registered 2,156 new cancer cases with overall age-adjusted incidence rate for all cancers of 95.7 per 100,000 population (95.3 for males and 98.1 for females). The age-adjusted mortality rate for males was 36.3 (n = 365) and for females 27.0 (n = 305) per 100,000 population. We found that the commonest cancers in males were lung and stomach, whereas in females, they were breast and lung cancer. Gallbladder cancer was among the top five common cancers in both sex. CONCLUSION: These findings provide a milestone to understand the cancer burden in the country for the first time using the PBCR and will be helpful to develop and prioritize cancer control strategies.