Analysis of the prevalence of gastrointestinal malignancies
Background: malignancies are a critical issue of healthcare worldwide and rank second among leading causes of death. Gastrointestinal (GI) cancer morbidity and mortality are different across national populations and even territories of one country. A set of factors affect GI cancer prevalence, e.g., social-economic, climatic geographical, ecological, behavioral, hereditary factors of the living environment, etc. Aim: was to analyze the rate of GI cancers among habitants of northern regions of Russia and its changes over five years and compare these data to the Russian population. Materials and Methods: official statistical data of the P.A. Hertsen Moscow Oncology Research Institute - Branch of the National Medical Research Radiological Centre (2016-2019) were used. In addition, published data on GI malignancies indexed in Medline, PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, and Google Scholar databases were reviewed. Results: a higher rate of GI cancers among populations of northern regions of Russia (more remarkable than in Russia) was reported. Standardized incidence varied from 4.84±0.63 in the Murmansk Region to 12.72±4.64 in the Chukotka autonomous region. The exclusions were the Krasnoyarsk region and Khanty-Mansy autonomous region. In these regions, the incidence was similar to all-Russian incidence. In men, GI malignancies develop several years earlier than in women, i.e., the difference varies between 1.5 years (colon cancer) and 5.6 years (pancreatic cancer). The leading malignancies in Russia are gastric cancer and colon cancer. Conclusion: cancer prevalence and risk factors in populations of northern regions of Russia provide novel modalities to improve preventive and treatment strategies for malignancies