Stomach Cancer in Patients Referred to Tohid Hospital in Sanandaj, 2012 - 2018: An Epidemiological Study

Background: Stomach cancer is the fourth most common cancer in the world and first cancer in Iran. The northern and northwestern regions of the country are areas with a high prevalence of gastrointestinal cancers, especially gastric cancer. Different factors are effective in the incidence of this cancer. Objectives: The present study aimed to evaluate the epidemiology of gastric cancer. Methods: This research was a cross-sectional study. All patients referred to Tohid Hospital in Sanandaj between 2012 and 2018 were examined. Data were extracted using patients' medical records. Descriptive information was collected through SPSS software, and the results were analyzed. Results: The number of patients in this study was 553. The mean age was 66.9 years, and the highest age group was 60 - 80 years. Four hundred twelve patients were male, and 141 were female. In 50% of patients, the location of the cardiac tumor was gastric. Chemotherapy was the most common treatment in more than 60% of patients. Conclusions: The results of this study show that smoking is unfortunately high in patients in this province. An educational intervention to quit smoking is recommended. Smoking is an important risk factor for gastric cancer, and this intervention may also be effective in reducing the incidence of this disease.