Background: Patterns in survival can provide information about the burden and severity of cancer, help uncover gaps in systemic policy and program delivery, and support the planning of enhanced cancer control systems. We describe the one-year survival rates for women with cancer of the breast, stomach and esophagus in two populations: Ardabil, Iran and British Columbia (BC), Canada.

Methods: All female invasive cancers of the breast, stomach and esophagus diagnosed in 2003 were identified in the Ardabil and BC cancer registries. At least one year of follow-up information was available for each patient. The International Classification of Disease for Oncology was used for coding tumour morphology and topography. Age-specific and age-adjusted one-year relative survival rates were calculated using life tables for each country. Patient groups and tumour characteristics were compared using t-tests for continuous variables and chi-squared tests for categorical variables.

Results: The one-year relative survival rate for breast cancer patients was 95.0% in BC and 16.0% in Ardabil. The one-year relative survival rate for stomach cancer patients was 46.1 % in BC and 21.5 % in Ardabil. The one-year relative survival rate of esophageal cancer patients was 34.0 % in BC and 16.1 % in Ardabil. The average age of breast cancer patients was 61 years in BC and 47 years in Ardabil (p<0.001). The average age of stomach cancer patients was 70 years in BC and 64 years in Ardabil (p=0.005). The average age of esophageal cancer patients was 74 years in BC and 60 years in Ardabil (p<0.001).

Conclusion: There were substantial differences in women's cancer survival between BC and Ardabil. The differences might be due to patient host factors, tumor biology or health care services.

Second AACR International Conference on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities— Feb 3–6, 2009; Carefree, AZ

American Association for Cancer Research
2009