Multi-institution Hospital-based Cancer Incidence Data for Nepal - An Initial Report

While comprehensive cancer registration data are available for some locations in India and Pakistan, thesituation regarding other countries in South Asia is less clear. Only one publication with cancer incidence datais available in the literature for Nepal, for one hospital in the Western provinces. The present study was conductedto assess burden across a greater proportion of country with data from 7 major hospitals where cancer is diagnosedand treated. Data from each were transferred to the BP Koirala Memorial Cancer Hospital in Bharatput, theNational Cancer Center of Nepal, for compilation. Overall the most common site in males was the lung, followedby the oral cavity and stomach, while the first three in females were cervix uteri, breast and lung. Shifts in thethe main cancers were noted with different ages, with leukemias and lymphomas in young individuals replacedby lung, oral and stomach in middle age and lung, stomach and larynx in the oldest category of males. Infemales the shift was to breast in young women, then cervix in middle age followed by lung in the very aged.There was also variation between hospitals, but this appeared largely due to the differences in the therapeuticmodalities available in different institutions.