Cancer burden in four countries of the Middle East Cancer Consortium (Cyprus; Jordan; Israel; Izmir (Turkey)) with comparison to the United States surveillance; epidemiology and end results program

Highlights • Novel centralized statistical analysis was used to compare cancer registry data from four Middle East countries by creating common data dictionary and standardized analysis codes. • Site-specific cancer rates differ between the four countries. Age-standardized rate of male lung cancer in Izmir/Turkey is significantly higher than other countries and is five times that in Jordan. The highest Female breast cancer rate was in Israeli Jews and lowest in Turkish women. • The results can have implications for opportunities in cancer control and prevention in developing countries.