Demographic Profile of Gastric Cancer in Afghanistan

Gastric cancer is the second commonest cause of death among all cancers and the fifth most common cancer in the world. The number of deaths due to gastric cancer is about 723,000 annually. It is more common in men compared to women. The incidence of gastric cancer has 20-fold variation worldwide. In Asia, it is the third most prevalent cancer after breast and colorectal cancers. The prevalence of gastric cancer in Middle East varies from very high in Iran to low in Israel and very low in Egypt. The purpose of this study was to assess the demographic profile of gastric cancer in Afghanistan. A retrospective analysis of patient’s records at the Oncology Department of Jamhoriat Hospital in Kabul, Afghanistan was conducted in a 1 year period. Data of patients diagnosed with gastric cancer was obtained from the registers of the oncology department from March 2018 to February 2019. Variables of interest included age, gender, ethnicity, and place of residence of the patients. Totally, 1324 cancer patients attended to the oncology department in 1 year; of these, 174 patients were diagnosed with gastric cancer. There were significantly more gastric cancer patients among males (69.5%) relative to females. With regard to ethnicity, the Tajeks contributed majority of the cases presenting with gastric cancer. The majority of the patients presenting with gastric cancer were from Kabul province. There were more cases of gastric cancer were in northern provinces. Majority of the cases were contributed by patients above 50 years of age and male gender. This retrospective study aims to provide information about prevalence and demographic characteristics of patient with gastric cancer in Afghanistan. However, there is lack of literature regarding gastric cancer in this war-torn country.