The Epidemiology of Breast Cancer in WHO’s Regional Countries

Introduction and objective: Breast cancer is the most common malignancy among women and the leading cause of cancer death worldwide. According to the global cancer project (GLOBOCAN 2012), breast cancer accounts for 25% of all cancer cases and 15% of all cancer deaths worldwide. However, incidence and mortality rates of breast cancer vary in different parts of the world. This study aimed to investigate and compare the epidemiology of breast cancer in WHO’s regional countries as well as in Iran.Methods: For all 6 regions of WHO, data on age-standardized incidence and mortality rates of breast cancer per 100000 women were acquired from the GLOBOCAN 2012, the last revised GLOBOCAN report. For Iran, these rates were obtained from the Ministry of Health’s reports on cancer as well as the GLOBOCAN 2012 Results: In 2012, the 5-year prevalence and age-standardized incidence and mortality rates of breast cancer were 36.3%, 43.1, and 12.9, respectively. Indeed, the highest age-standardized incidence (66.5) andmortality (18.6) rates were related to EURO and EMRO, respectively. In addition, the highest 5-year prevalence was 47.4% in EMRO. In Iran, the 5-year prevalence and age-standardized incidence and mortality rates were 37.7%, 28.1, and 9.9, respectively. Conclusion: Considering the enormous burden of breast cancer on healthcare system in Iran, it seems crucial to develop control and prevention programs. Besides, health education for women can be an essential strategy to increase risk factors awareness and early detection