Determine the Survival Rate of Esophageal Cancer in Northern Iran: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Introduction & Aim: Esophageal cancer is the sixth leading cause of death from cancer in the world. This cancer is usually diagnosed when a definitive treatment option and patient survival have been greatly reduced. The present study was conducted to determine the survival of one to five years of esophageal cancer in northern Iran by meta-analysis. Methods: In this systematic review, validated Iranian medical databases including Iranmedex, Magiran, SID, and validated British databases including Scopus and PubMed were searched. The search was performed using the esophagus cancer keyword and survival rate. Data were analyzed using meta-analysis (random effects model) and software STATA (Ver. 11.1). Results: In 7 papers, 1874 samples were studied. Survival rates of 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 years for esophageal cancer in north of Iran were 49%, 34%, 19%, 23% and 16%. The lowest rate of 1-years survival in Babol (24%) and the highest rate of 5-year survival were in Rasht (86%). Conclusion: The 1-year survival rate of esophageal cancer in northern Iran is almost triple the 5-year survival rate. The 5-year survival rate in Iran is lower than in many parts of the world. Therefore, screening of esophageal cancer in high-risk populations is necessary for the diagnosis of esophageal cancer in early stages.

Keywords:

Survival rate , Esophageal cancer , Systematic review , Meta-analysis.