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There is a male predominance in
cancer incidence with a ratio of 1.4:1. Thus although males constitute only
51.1% of the Egyptian population, yet they contribute 58.3% of the cancer
population. This denotes that males in general are at a higher risk than females
to develop cancer. Conversely, in developed countries, this male predominance is
less striking, with a ratio of only 1.1:1 in USA.
The anatomical site distribution of cancer in Egyptian patients is analyzed in two
pathology series, a private practice series of more than 13,000 patients (El Bolkainy) and National Cancer Institute (NCI) series
of 11,614 patients during the
years 1990 -1997
Both series included solid tumors only (Leukemia was not represented). The
private series probably contains a well balanced representation of the different
tumor sites. But a selection bias probably exists in the material of NCI since
it is a specialized center in bladder and head and neck cancers and lacks service
departments for chest surgery and neurosurgery.
The leading cancers in Egyptian patients are the urinary bladder (32.67%),
gastrointestinal tract (22.24%) breast
(13.15%) and lymphoma (9.8%). The profile of
cancer in Egyptian patients has some features in common with that in developed
countries, other features similar to developing countries in addition to some
specific features of its own. Thus similarity to the developed countries
includes the high incidence of breast cancer and gastrointestinal cancer, and
the infrequency of cervical and liver cancers. Whereas, similarity to the pattern
in developing countries includes the infrequency of colorectal, lung and prostatic cancers which are related to diet, heavy smoking and aging of
population respectively. The three cancer patterns which are peculiar to
Egyptian patients are, the high frequency of bladder cancer related to
Schistosomiasis and the high frequency of malignant lymphoma and cancer of
pharynx possibly related to viral infection and malnutrition.
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