Due to the lack of nationwide population-based cancer registration, the total cancer prevalence in Iran is
unknown. Our previous work in which we used a basic network scale-up (NSU) method, failed to provide plausible
estimates of total cancer prevalence in Kerman. The aim of the present study was to estimate total and partial
prevalence of cancer in southeastern Iran using an adapted version of the generalized network scale-up method.
A survey was conducted in 2014 using multi-stage cluster sampling. A total of 1995 face-to-face gender-matched
interviews were performed based on an adapted version of the NSU questionnaire. Interviewees were asked about
their family cancer history. Total and partial prevalence were estimated using a generalized NSU estimator. The
Monte Carlo method was adopted for the estimation of upper/lower bounds of the uncertainty range of point
estimates. One-yr, 2-3 yr, and 4-5 yr prevalence (per 100,000 people) was respectively estimated at 78 (95%CI,
66, 90), 128 (95%CI, 118, 147), and 59 (95%CI, 49, 70) for women, and 48 (95%CI, 38, 58), 78 (95%CI, 66, 91),
and 42 (95%CI, 32, 52) for men. The 5-yr prevalence of all cancers was estimated at 0.18 percent for men, and
0.27 percent for women. This study showed that the generalized familial network scale-up method is capable of
estimating cancer prevalence, with acceptable precision.