Book Description

Presents data on cancer incidence gathered from five population-based cancer registries in different regions of Thailand and compares these data with data on cancer incidence from other parts of the world. Apart from offering a comprehensive overview of cancer incidence in Thailand, the book uncovers a number of geographical differences in incidence, suggesting important behavioral, environmental, or industrial risk factors that deserve further study. Survival data from two registries are also presented and discussed. The opening chapters provide background information about the country and its population, describe the sources of data maintained in the five registries, and discuss the methods of data coding and analysis used in the study. Against this background, results are presented separately for each of 15 cancers and for childhood cancer. For each cancer, the number of cases registered in 1992-1994 is shown by sex, with age-specific incidence rates and some summary rates. The study uncovered striking geographical variations in the incidence of specific cancers. For the country as a whole, the highest incidences were found for cancers of the liver, lung, colon and rectum, oral cavity, bladder, stomach, leukaemia, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, and cancers of the nasopharynx and oesophagus. For each cancer, data are set out in numerous tables, compared with findings from other countries and discussed in terms of possible risk factors. Primary cancer of the liver was identified as the leading cancer of males and the third most important cancer in females.