epidemiology of patients with cancer in seventh tir general hospital from 1992 to 2005

background: population based research contributes to our understanding of cancer at many levels. for health program planning and policy making it is important to have information about the incidence of the common cancers in the population. descriptive epidemiologic studies measure the occurrence of cancer and other health-related factors in relation to person (e.g. age, sex, race, social class, and behavioral factors), place, and time. the aim of the present study was to present the demographics of common cancers in a referral hospital in tehran the capital city of iran. patients and methods: in a cross sectional study existing files of patients with diagnosis of cancer in our center in a 13 years period were reviewed. evaluation of the age, sex, primary site, histology, stage of disease and treatment were recorded. the results were analyzed using spss software version 11.5 and depicted in tables and graphs. results: one thousand and two patients with cancer (esophagus, gastric, colon, breast, lung, and lymphoma) aged 11 to 110 years at diagnosis were assessed. the male/female ratio was 509/493. common cancers in the male population were esophagus, stomach, colon, and lung cancers and in the female population were breast, esophagus, gastric and colon cancers. the most common cancer in this center was esophageal cancer. cancer was more common in females below the age 60 years and in males after the age 60. in our hospital patients were often admitted with advanced stage of the disease. conclusion: increasing the public knowledge and awareness about cancers, importance of early diagnosis, available therapeutic modalities and high cure rate will help to improve survival of cancer in developing countries. key words: epidemiology, prognosis, incidence, survival, cancer.