Cancer Incidence in Merida, Mexico 2015-2018: First Report from the Population-based Cancer Registry.

BACKGROUND: Cancer registries are essential for monitoring cancer burden and patterns, and document changes in time for cancer control. Hereby, we present the first results of four years of the Merida population-based cancer registry in Mexico. METHODS: The registry collects data on all new cancers diagnosed since 2015 using both active and passive methods including a total of 104 information sources. Definitions and coding follow international standards. Using CanReg5 software, age-standardized incidence rates (ASR/100,000 person years) were computed by direct method using the world standard population. RESULTS: A total of 5684 new cancer cases were registered during 2015-2018, 2321 in males and 3363 in females corresponding to age-adjusted incidence rates (ASR per 100,000) of 128.5, and 153.1, respectively. Most frequent cancers among males were prostate cancer (ASR 29.8), lymphomas (ASR 10.9) and colorectal cancer (ASR 9.7) while among females it was breast cancer (ASR 49.3), cervical cancer (ASR 17.5) and corpus uteri (ASR 11.5). Childhood cancers (0-14 year) represented 2.9% of all cancers, with leukemias accounting for 52% of the new cases. Overall, 87.6% of new cases were microscopically verified. CONCLUSIONS: The data reported provide information on the cancer profile in Merida. Prostate and breast cancer are the main incident cancers. Cervical cancers present high rates among women, while lymphomas and liver cancer data merit further exploration. Efforts to support the Merida cancer registry as well as other registries in Mexico need to be pursued in order to have locally recorded data to support cancer control measures.