Institution-based Cancer Incidence in a Local Population in Pakistan: Nine Year Data Analysis

At present no national level of cancer registry program exists in Pakistan and the data available from differentsources, necessary for incidence, prevalence, morbidity/mortality, and etiological assessment of cancer and cancercontrol programs, are from hospital or institutional databases. Karachi Institute of Radiotherapy and NuclearMedicine (KIRAN) is a comprehensive healthcare facility for diagnosis, treatment and research of all cancers.This is a retrospective analysis of the cancer patients of both genders of all age groups to determine frequenciesof different cancers presented to this Institute from 1st January 2000 to 31 December 2008. A total of 16,351cancer patients were registered at KIRAN during the nine year period. Male cancers accounted for 48.1% andfemale cancers 51.8%. Some 558 (3.4%) were in children (0-15 years). The mean ages at presentation for malesand females were 50±9.6 and 47±7.4 years respectively. In males the five most frequent malignancies were headand neck (32.6%), lung (15%), gastrointestinal tract (GIT) (6.9%), lymphoma (6.1%), and bone and soft tissue(4.9%). In females breast cancer was the most common cancer accounting for 38.2% followed by head & neck(15.1%), cervical (5.5%), ovarian (4.9%) and GIT cancer (4.9%) respectively. Cancer prevalence in differentage groups with respect to gender and the epidemiologies of most common cancers with reference to our culturaland environmental factors and dietary habits are also discussed. Overall cancer incidence in nine years in thistertiary care cancer institution showed that head and neck cancers in males and breast cancers in females aremost common, at rates almost highest in Asia. Mean age and male to female ratio in all other cancers areessentially comparable to other developing countries.