This study, the first environmental cancer study in Azerbaijan,
addressed concerns that residents of the industrial
city of Sumgayit have an increased cancer burden
as a consequence of intense occupational and environmental
pollution from industry. Vital statistics data
were used to calculate annual crude cancer incidence
and mortality rates for selected cancers and regions in
Azerbaijan for the years 1980–2000. Poisson regression
analysis of age- and sex-specific data from 1995–2000
demonstrates an increased risk for selected cancers in
Sumgayit relative to the rest of the country, as measured
by adjusted rate ratios [aRR (95% CI))]: larynx
1.39 (1.04, 1.85), lung 1.67 (1.44, 1.92), bladder 2.49
(1.93, 3.22), and all sites 1.51 (1.43, 1.58). Sumgayit
appears to suffer from an increased cancer burden;
poor data quality and suspected underreporting, however,
prevent accurate estimates of incidence or mortality
rates. Construction of a modern cancer registry
would be prerequisite to more detailed examinations
of cancer rates in the country.