Breast and Ovarian Cancers’ Incidence Trends Among Iraqi Women During 2012–2022 and Their Relationship to Fertility Patterns

Abstract

Objectives: This study aimed to estimate the incidence trends of female breast cancer (BC) and ovarian cancer (OC) among women in Iraq and their relation to fertility patterns. Methods: This retrospective study utilised the Iraqi Cancer Registry annual reports for the years 2012–2022 and the World Bank data for Iraqi crude birth rate and total fertility data for the years 1992–2002. Simple linear regression analysis examined the relationship between these variables and incidence rates of BC and OC. Results: A total of 63,446 women were newly diagnosed with BC from 2012–2022. The overall age standardised incidence rate (ASIR) of BC was 46.68/100,000 females. It increased significantly from 36.61/100,000 in 2012 to 61.89/100,000 in 2022 with an average annual percentage change (AAPC) of 4.83% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 2.69–7.08; P < 0.001). The overall ASIR rate of OC was 6.22/100,000 women. It increased significantly from 4.35/100,000 in 2012 to 6.90/100,000 in 2022 with an AAPC of 4.58% (95% CI: 2.40–6.88; P < 0.001). The ASIR of BC was negatively and significantly associated with crude birth rate (CBR) and total fertility (TFR) rate (R2 = 0.727; P = 0.001 and R2 = 0.728; P = 0.001, respectively). The ASIR of OC was negatively and significantly associated with CBR and TFR (R2 = 0.699; P = 0.001 and R2 = 0.696; P = 0.001, respectively). Conclusions: Iraqi women are experiencing a rising incidence of breast and ovarian cancers over time. Lower fertility rates may partly play a role in this trend. Research and initiatives are necessary to identify and control the factors that are increasing this risk.

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