Pattern of Malignant Tumors among Cancer Patients during the Year 2014 in Minia Governorate, Egypt

Background: Cancer registries are a unique source of information for any cancer control
program. These data help in the allocation of financial and manpower resources and
facilitate detection of carcinogens and monitoring of environmental carcinogens.
Objectives: To describe the pattern of cancer diagnosed in Minia governorate during the
year 2014 and the distribution of different types of cancer according to patients’
sociodemographic criteria and to identify the most common risk factors for common
cancer types. Method: Hospital based cross sectional study has been carried out in two
phases; Phase I: Data of cancer patients diagnosed and recorded during the period from
January to December 2014 in Minia University Hospital, Minia Oncology Center and
Minia health insurance Hospital were collected. Phase II: A subsample was taken from
cancer patients representing nearly 10% of each cancer site of our sample and according to
total number of patient records retrieved from each hospital during their follow up visits.
Patients were interviewed by a structured questionnaire used for data collection. Results:
Liver cancer was the most frequent type of cancer represented (18.1%) of all cancer cases,
accounting for (24.6%) in males and (9.1%) in females, while breast cancer was the 2nd
most frequent type of cancer by (16%). Conclusion: Results demonstrated that liver
cancer was the most frequent type of cancer of all cancer cases, predominantly in males
followed by breast cancer which ranked 2nd but occur almost exclusively and most
common type in females, with a widespread illiteracy and defective education among
cancer patients.