Prevalence of Central Nervous System Tumors in Iran: A Systematic and Meta-analysis

Abstract

Background: The central nervous system (CNS) is a main leading cause of morbidity and mortality in the world. This study aimed to review the prevalence of the CNS in Iran. A systematic literature search was done in international databases (Web of Science, PubMed and Scopus) for articles published by April 15, 2022. The keywords searched were benign brain tumors, chordomas, craniopharyngiomas, gangliocytomas, glomus jugular, meningiomas, pineocytomas, pituitary adenomas, schwannomas, malignant brain tumors, gliomas, astrocytomas, ependymomas, glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), medulloblastomas, oligodendrogliomas, rare brain tumor, hemangioblastomas, rhabdoid tumors, pediatric brain tumors, low-grade astrocytomas (pilocytic), brainstem gliomas. A total of 8 studies examining 2,214 patients were found in this review. The mean age of the patients was 29.48±22.54 (range: 5.33 to 55) years. Regarding gender, 59% of the patients were males. The mean mortality rate following developing CNS tumor was 38.93±18.61% (19.2 to 56.18%). Male to female ratio was 1.37 in patients with CNS tumors. Prevalence of CNS tumors were high like ependymomas (14%), lymphomas (1%), glioma (22%), astrocytoma (34%), medulloblastoma (28%), craniopharyngioma (15%), and meningioma (4%) tumors. The death rate following developing CNS tumors in Iran is 38.93% involving men young people. Additionally, astrocytoma tumors (34%) and lymphoma tumors (1%) had the most significant and lowest prevalence of CNS malignancies, respectively, in Iran.