Abstract—New research shows a significant link between lung cancer and cancer-causing chemical poll ution, especially from large industrial facilities such as oil refinery. The aim of the study was to compare the incidence rate of lung cancer between oil refinery counties and non oil refinery counties in Syria. All our data were collected from the Nuclear Medical Center at Beirouni hospital in Damascus, which has the only Cancer disease registry in Syria. All patients (n=2790) who were diagnosed in 2006 with any type of cancer from oil refinery counties (n=2) and non oil refinery counties (n=3) in Syria were included in this study according to their residency place and cancer type. Our results indicate that Lung cancer in oil refinery counties constituted significantly higher percentage of all cancers than non oil refineries counties [P=0.005]. Lung cancer incidence rates for 2006 in oil refinery counties was significantly higher than non oil refineries counties [refineries counties: 3.48 per 100 000 population; non refineries counties: 2.27 per 100 000 population; P=0.034]. Unexpectedly, only 53.9% of lung cancer patients in oil Refinery County were smoker. We also observed an excess rate of lung cancer occurrence in age group 30-39 years old in oil refinery counties. In conclusion, this study provides new information suggesting that oil refinery products may play an important role in lung carcinogenesis in Syria.

Index Terms—Carcinogenic exposure, lung cancer, oil refinery, pollution, syria.

Cite: Fares A. Masri and Amer Sheikh Yusuf, "High Incidence Rate of Lung Cancer in Oil Refinery Counties", Journal of Medical and Bioengineering vol. 1, no. 1, pp. 22-25, 2012. doi: 10.12720/jomb.1.1.22-25