Non-Hodgkin's lymphomas in Alexandria, Egypt; incidence rates and trend study (1995–2004)

Abstract

During the past decades, the incidence of the most common non-Hodgkin's lymphomas has increased dramatically worldwide. In Egypt, it is the fifth most common cancer in both the sexes. The purpose of this study is to study the problem of non-Hodgkin's lymphomas in Alexandria, Egypt: incidence rates and trend. The method employed was record reviewing for estimation of the annual incidence rates of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and their trends. The general incidence rate of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma was 5.90 in 1995 and reached 8.99 in 2004, with a peak (9.40) in the year 2002. The male incidence of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma demonstrated an obvious rise from 1995 to 1998, with a slowing from 1999 to 2002, followed by another evident rise from 2003. Women showed an increase in non-Hodgkin's lymphoma incidence rates from 1995 to 2000, then a decline afterwards, till 2004. As regards the population from 15 to 60 years old, there was a rise through the period from 1994 to 1999, then a drop from 2000 to 2004. In the elderly group, the incidence rate was doubled during the 10 years (from 13.36/100 000 in 1995 to 26.65 in 2004). The incidence of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma increased steadily from 1995 to 2004 in Alexandria, particularly in the elderly population. The importance of developing additional strategies for screening and prevention of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, in this group, on the basis of epidemiological evidences is warranted.

Global cancer statistics

“…Increases in NHL, particularly among older age groups, have also been observed in Egypt, where the AIDS epidemic is less prominent. The exact causes for this increase are not entirely clear but could be related to altered immune function associated with older age as well as HCV infection, which is prevalent among older Egyptians and has recently been classified by the IARC as having a causal link to NHL 124, 125…”

Relative frequency of non‐Hodgkin lymphoma subtypes in selected centres in North Africa, the middle east and India: a review of 971 cases

“…A review of other published studies from NAF/ME/IN (Castella et al , ; Almasri et al , ; Isikdogan et al , ; Abdel‐Fattah & Yassine, ; Sahni & Desai, ; Akhtar et al , ; Goldman et al , ; Ameen et al , ; Mozaheb et al , ; Yaqo et al , ; Arora et al , ; Otrock et al , ; Mondal et al , ) generally showed relative frequencies of NHL subtypes similar to our study (Table ). The most common lymphoma in all of these studies was DLBCL, ranging from 31% in Egypt (Abdel‐Fattah & Yassine, ) to 59% in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) (Castella et al , ), with most studies reporting a frequency above 40%. The frequency of FL ranged from 1·4% in Iran (Mozaheb et al , ) to 22% in Egypt (Abdel‐Fattah & Yassine, ), with most studies reporting a frequency of less than 15%.…”

“…With an HIV prevalence rate of <0·1% in the adult population, Egypt is one of the least affected countries in Africa (http://www.unaids.org/en/regionscountries/countries/). Several studies have reported on the relative frequency of BL in Egypt (Naresh et al , ; Abdel‐Fattah & Yassine, ; Goldman et al , ). One study (Naresh et al , ) reported a high frequency of BL (7%), similar to our findings, whereas the other two studies reported frequencies of only 0·9% (Abdel‐Fattah & Yassine, ) and 0·2% (Goldman et al , ).…”

“…The most common lymphoma in all of these studies was DLBCL, ranging from 31% in Egypt (Abdel‐Fattah & Yassine, ) to 59% in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) (Castella et al , ), with most studies reporting a frequency above 40%. The frequency of FL ranged from 1·4% in Iran (Mozaheb et al , ) to 22% in Egypt (Abdel‐Fattah & Yassine, ), with most studies reporting a frequency of less than 15%. In most studies, the frequency of MCL was less than 5%, whereas that of CLL/SLL ranged from 2–10%.…”

“…The epidemiological risk factors contributing to these variations are unclear, but are probably a combination of genetic, cultural and lifestyle factors, as well socioeconomic, resource and environmental factors that are specific for each region (Chiu & Weisenburger, ; Morton et al , ; Evens & Chiu, ). A number of small studies conducted in North Africa, the Middle East and India (NAF/ME/IN) have reported on the relative frequencies of NHL subtypes in various countries (Castella et al , ; Almasri et al , ; Isikdogan et al , ; Abdel‐Fattah & Yassine, ; Sahni & Desai, ; Akhtar et al , ; Goldman et al , ; Ameen et al , ; Mozaheb et al , ; Yaqo et al , ; Arora et al , ; Otrock et al , ; Mondal et al , ), but no systematic, large‐scale study of the distribution of NHL subtypes in this region has been published to date. The aim of this study was to assess the relative frequencies of NHL subtypes in NAF/ME/IN and compare the findings to a previously accrued cohort from North America (NA) (Anderson et al , ).…”