Incidence of eye cancer in Taiwan: an 18-year review

Abstract

Purpose: To describe the incidence and histologic patterns of eye cancers in Chinese in Taiwan.

Methods: Beginning in 1979, cases of cancer in Taiwan were reported to the Taiwan National Cancer Registry. Information on all Chinese patients diagnosed with eye malignancies under the International Classification of Disease, Ninth Revision, site 190, was retrieved for analysis from the data bank of the Taiwan National Cancer Registry.

Results: In all, 733 cases with primary eye cancers were identified from 1979 to 1996, an 18-year period. The average annual age-standardized incidence of eye cancers was 2.46 per million population (2.57 for male and 2.33 for female). For cases less than 15 years of age, the most common eye malignancy was retinoblastoma (86.0%), followed by rhabdomyosarcoma (3.9%) and lymphoma (2.8%). For cases 15 years of age or older, the most common eye malignancy was melanoma (28.6%), followed by squamous cell sarcoma (21.0%) and lymphoma (20.8%).

Conclusions: The time trends of the incidence of eye cancers were relatively stable over the 18-year period in Taiwan. Retinobalstoma, melanoma, and lymphoma were the three most common eye cancers in this Chinese population.