Abstract

There are wide variations in the prevalence of gastric cancer throughout the world. This study was performed to investigate the epidemiology of gastric cancer in Iranians who have diet and living conditions markedly different from Eastern and Western populations. Relevant cancer data registry of 58 major histopathology centers in a 14 years period since 1990 were collected in preformed questionnaires. 10683 out of 50936 registered cancers were gastrointestinal (GI) cancers including esophagus, stomach, small and large bowel, liver and pancreas. The most common GI cancer was gastric cancer with a frequency of 3936 (36.85). In conclusion gastric cancer is the most prevalent GI cancer in Iran, despite different diet and enviromental conditions from high - prevalent areas of the world.