Age for cancer diagnosis reduced to 25 in Iran

TEHRAN, Feb. 10 (MNA) -- The director of the Iranian Society of Internists has warned of the prevalence of cancer diseases among the Iranians under the age of 25.

“Cancer had been most commonly diagnosed among people aged 50-plus (in 1979); but nowadays, after three decades, there is an increased incidence of cancer in those under 25 years and in some cases 18,” Iraj Khosrownia lamented.

Prostate cancer is mostly seen among the Iranian men, and among women breast cancer is most common, Khosrownia explained.

Blaming environmental factors and inborn genetic factors for the spread of cancer among the Iranians, he said, poor nutrition, smoking, and air pollution are the main causes of the cancer in all types.

According to latest official figures, 90 percent of various types of cancers are caused by smoking leading to an earlier death; cancer is responsible for 30 percent of deaths occurred across the country.

Khosrownia described examinations every six months or every year for women as the simple method of detecting cancer at its early stages.