Time Trends of Brain Tumors in Jordan: Age at Diagnosis, Gender and Histological Type

Abstract

In Arab Countries, including Jordan, limited descriptive brain cancer data is available. We investigated the time trends of brain tumors with respect to gender and histological type distribution and age at our institution over the 1981-2011 period. We found a slight male predominance (52%, P< 0.05) throughout the study period for all tumors combined, with more pronounced male predominance for glioblastoma multiforme, anaplastic astrocytoma and oligodendroglioma. Meningioma and pinocytoma showed female predominance (P<0.05). The gender distribution was stable for all histological types over the entire 30-year period. Relative frequency of all histological types was stable over the 30-year period except for anaplastic astrocytoma. However, the absolute numbers of cases diagnosed at the hospital increased in 18 of the 42 different types of tumors identified, peaking in 1990-1991 and in 2003-2006. Mean age at diagnosis for the study population was 35.2 years. Age at time of diagnosis increased overtime for craniopharyngiomas, colloid cysts and pinocytomas but remained stable for the remaining tumors. Aside from only a few exceptions, our study demonstrates stability of the various brain tumor types in Jordanians with respect to gender, histological type distribution and age at diagnosis over a long period of time.