A Case Series of Immigrant Cancer Patients in Iran
Abstract
Iran has recently experienced a recent influx of immigrants, mainly from neighboring countries such as Afghanistan and Iraq. We report a case series of immigrant cancer patients who were admitted at Imam Khomeini Hospital Complex in Tehran.Methods: We conducted a retrospective cross-series using the medical records of immigrant patients diagnosed with cancer from March 2013 to March 2023. We performed descriptive analyses of the immigrant patients, including gender, age, country of birth, type of cancer, treatment courses, and metastasis status.Results: The total number of immigrant cancer patients was 349, with 51.86% being female and 48.14% male. Among these patients, 8 (2.30%) were children (under 14 years old), 42 (12.07%) were young adults (aged 15-24), and 297 (85.59%) were older than 25 years. Most immigrants in the study were from Afghanistan (95.13%), followed by Iraq (4.58%). Additionally, 8.88% of the immigrants were second-generation, born in Iran. The most common cancer types were breast (32.04%), hematological (12.15%), ovarian (11.05%), and colorectal (7.18%) cancers in women and hematological (17.86%), colorectal (10.71%), musculoskeletal (10.12%), and skin (10.12%) cancers in men.Conclusion: This study is the first description of cancer disparity among immigrants in Iran. The results of this study can be used for cancer surveillance and promoting care among immigrant populations in Iran.
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9. Mahmood S, Khawaja SN, Yusuf MA. Cancer care in times of conflict: Treatment of patients from Afghanistan, in Pakistan. Frontiers in oncology. 2023;13:1110709.
10. Mousavi SM, Brandt A, Sundquist J, Hemminki K. Risks of papillary and follicular thyroid cancer among immigrants to Sweden. International journal of cancer. 2011;129(9):2248-55.
11. Khan SM, Gillani J, Nasreen S, Zai S. Cancer in north west Pakistan and Afghan refugees. JPMA The Journal of the Pakistan Medical Association. 1997;47(4):122-4.
12. Otoukesh S, Mojtahedzadeh M, Figlin RA, Rosenfelt FP, Behazin A, Sherzai D, et al. Literature Review and Profile of Cancer Diseases Among Afghan Refugees in Iran: Referrals in Six Years of Displacement. Medi¬cal science monitor : international medical journal of experimental and clinical research. 2015;21:3622-8.
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14. Harvey-Sullivan A, Ali S, Dhesi P, Hart J, Painter H, Walter FM, et al. Comparing cancer stage at diagno¬sis between migrants and non-migrants: a meta-anal¬ysis. British Journal of Cancer. 2025;132(2):158-67.
15. Herbach EL, Weeks KS, O’Rorke M, Novak NL, Sch¬weizer ML. Disparities in breast cancer stage at diag-nosis between immigrant and native-born women: A meta-analysis. Ann Epidemiol. 2021;54:64-72.e7.
16. Azerkan F, Sparén P, Sandin S, Tillgren P, Faxelid E, Zendehdel K. Cervical screening participation and risk among Swedish-born and immigrant women in Sweden. International journal of cancer. 2012;130(4):937-47.
17. Lamminmäki M, Leivonen A, Sarkeala T, Virtanen A, Heinävaara SJJoM, Health. Health inequalities among Russian-born immigrant women in Finland: Longitudinal analysis on cervical cancer incidence and participation in screening. 2022;6:100117.
18. Marques P, Gama A, Santos M, Heleno B, Vermande¬re H, Dias S. Understanding Cervical Cancer Screen¬ing Barriers among Migrant Women: A Qualitative Study with Healthcare and Community Workers in Portugal. International journal of environmental re¬search and public health. 2021;18(14).
19. Rüdiger R, Geiser F, Ritter M, Brossart P, Keyver-Paik MD, Faridi A, et al. No evidence to support the impact of migration background on treatment response rates and cancer survival: a retrospective matched-pair analysis in Germany. BMC Cancer. 2021;21(1):526.
20. Dahlhaus A, Siebenhofer A, Guethlin C, Taubenroth M, Albay Z, Schulz-Rothe S, et al. Colorectal cancer stage at diagnosis in migrants and non-migrants: a cross-sectional analysis of the KoMigra Study in Germany. Z Gastroenterol. 2018;56(12):1499-506.
21. Lofters AK, Gatov E, Lu H, Baxter NN, Corrado AM, Guilcher SJT, et al. Stage of colorectal cancer diagno-sis for immigrants: a population-based retrospective cohort study in Ontario, Canada. Cancer causes & control : CCC. 2021;32(12):1433-46.
2. [Available from: https://www.acaps.org/en/coun¬tries/iran.
3. Kagawa-Singer M, Dadia AV, Yu MC, Surbone A. Cancer, culture, and health disparities: time to chart a new course? CA: a cancer journal for clinicians. 2010;60(1):12-39.
4. Omran AR. The epidemiologic transition: a theory of the epidemiology of population change. 1971. The Milbank quarterly. 2005;83(4):731-57.
5. cancer Afghanistan: WHO; [cited 2022 Nov 20]. Available from: https://cdn.who.int/media/docs/de¬fault-source/country-profiles/cancer/afg_2020.pdf.
6. Cancer incidence and mortality statistics worldwide: Globocan; 2022 [Available from: https://gco.iarc.fr/.
7. Shayan NA, Rahimi A, Özcebe H. Cancer prevalence, incidence, and mortality rates in Afghanistan in 2020: A review study. Cancer reports (Hoboken, NJ). 2023;6(9):e1873.
8. Joya M, Stanikzai Z, Akbarzadeh I, Babaloui S, Brad¬ley DA, Jafari SM. Prevalence of cancers diagnosed in Jamhuriyat Hospital, Kabul, Afghanistan. Heliyon [Internet]. 2020 2020/03//; 6(3):[e03603 p.].
9. Mahmood S, Khawaja SN, Yusuf MA. Cancer care in times of conflict: Treatment of patients from Afghanistan, in Pakistan. Frontiers in oncology. 2023;13:1110709.
10. Mousavi SM, Brandt A, Sundquist J, Hemminki K. Risks of papillary and follicular thyroid cancer among immigrants to Sweden. International journal of cancer. 2011;129(9):2248-55.
11. Khan SM, Gillani J, Nasreen S, Zai S. Cancer in north west Pakistan and Afghan refugees. JPMA The Journal of the Pakistan Medical Association. 1997;47(4):122-4.
12. Otoukesh S, Mojtahedzadeh M, Figlin RA, Rosenfelt FP, Behazin A, Sherzai D, et al. Literature Review and Profile of Cancer Diseases Among Afghan Refugees in Iran: Referrals in Six Years of Displacement. Medi¬cal science monitor : international medical journal of experimental and clinical research. 2015;21:3622-8.
13. Major, and Growing, Drug Abuse in Afghanistan: United Nations; [Available from: https://www.un-odc.org/unodc/en/press/releases/2010/June/un¬odc-reports-major-and-growing-drug-abuse-in-af¬ghanistan.html.
14. Harvey-Sullivan A, Ali S, Dhesi P, Hart J, Painter H, Walter FM, et al. Comparing cancer stage at diagno¬sis between migrants and non-migrants: a meta-anal¬ysis. British Journal of Cancer. 2025;132(2):158-67.
15. Herbach EL, Weeks KS, O’Rorke M, Novak NL, Sch¬weizer ML. Disparities in breast cancer stage at diag-nosis between immigrant and native-born women: A meta-analysis. Ann Epidemiol. 2021;54:64-72.e7.
16. Azerkan F, Sparén P, Sandin S, Tillgren P, Faxelid E, Zendehdel K. Cervical screening participation and risk among Swedish-born and immigrant women in Sweden. International journal of cancer. 2012;130(4):937-47.
17. Lamminmäki M, Leivonen A, Sarkeala T, Virtanen A, Heinävaara SJJoM, Health. Health inequalities among Russian-born immigrant women in Finland: Longitudinal analysis on cervical cancer incidence and participation in screening. 2022;6:100117.
18. Marques P, Gama A, Santos M, Heleno B, Vermande¬re H, Dias S. Understanding Cervical Cancer Screen¬ing Barriers among Migrant Women: A Qualitative Study with Healthcare and Community Workers in Portugal. International journal of environmental re¬search and public health. 2021;18(14).
19. Rüdiger R, Geiser F, Ritter M, Brossart P, Keyver-Paik MD, Faridi A, et al. No evidence to support the impact of migration background on treatment response rates and cancer survival: a retrospective matched-pair analysis in Germany. BMC Cancer. 2021;21(1):526.
20. Dahlhaus A, Siebenhofer A, Guethlin C, Taubenroth M, Albay Z, Schulz-Rothe S, et al. Colorectal cancer stage at diagnosis in migrants and non-migrants: a cross-sectional analysis of the KoMigra Study in Germany. Z Gastroenterol. 2018;56(12):1499-506.
21. Lofters AK, Gatov E, Lu H, Baxter NN, Corrado AM, Guilcher SJT, et al. Stage of colorectal cancer diagno-sis for immigrants: a population-based retrospective cohort study in Ontario, Canada. Cancer causes & control : CCC. 2021;32(12):1433-46.
| Files | ||
| Issue | Vol 16 No 1 (2024) | |
| Section | Case Reports | |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.18502/bccr.v16i1.18753 | |
| Keywords | ||
| Immigrants Cancer Clinical Cancer Registry Afghan immigrants | ||
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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. |
How to Cite
1.
Shaka Z, Angouraj Taghavi A, Seyyedi Z, Khaki M, Nahvijou A, Zendehdel K. A Case Series of Immigrant Cancer Patients in Iran. Basic Clin Cancer Res. 2025;16(1):33-37.
