‘Amman topped in cancer rates in Jordan’

AMMAN — The number of cancer patients in 2013 stood at 8744, the Sisterhood is Global Institute (SIGI) said on the occasion of World Cancer Day on Sunday, citing the national cancer registry report. 

Of the 8744 cases, 5416 were Jordanians and 3328 were Arabs and foreigners, SIGI said quoting the last published report.

Among all governorates, Amman has the highest cancer rate of 61.9 per cent, with Tafileh registering as the lowest with 0.7 per cent, SIGI said.

The number of Jordanian women cancer patients was 2,852 which is 52.7 per cent of the total Jordanian patients, according to a SIGI statement.

February 4 marks the annual World Cancer Day, an initiative implemented by The Union for International Cancer Control (UICC). Founded in 1933 in Geneva, UICC comprises 765 member organisations from 155 countries.

According to SIGI, the most widespread types of cancer among women are breast cancer (1040 cases, 36.5 per cent), colorectal cancer (268 cases, 9.4 per cent), thyroid cancer (175 cases, 6.1 per cent), cervical cancer (152 cases, 5.3 per cent), and leukaemia (134 cases, 4.7 per cent).

Among men, the most common types of cancer are colorectal cancer (325 cases, 12.7 per cent), lung cancer (283 cases, 11 per cent), bladder cancer (214 cases, 8.3 per cent), and prostate cancer (197 cases, 6.6 per cent), according to SIGI. 

The report stated that the most common types of cancer among children (15 years and less) were blood cancer (32.9 per cent), brain and nerve cancer (17.9 per cent), lymphatic cancer (11.1 per cent), bone cancer (7.9 per cent), and kidney cancer (7.5 per cent).