Institution based tumor registry from Punjab: five year data based analysis.

INTRODUCTION There are no population based cancer registries in Pakistan except for Karachi Cancer Registry (KCR). No data from Punjab is available in the last decade. We decided to conduct a data base analysis to see the frequencies of different cancers in Punjab. PATIENTS AND METHODS A retrospective analysis of 5100 patients presenting to Jinnah Hospital between January 1997 to December 2001 with histological diagnosis of cancer was performed. A tumor registry performa on all patients was filled which included demographic data as age, sex, duration of symptoms and disease stage at presentation. All cancers were coded according to international classification of Disease-oncology (ICD-10) classification. RESULTS Male cancers accounted for 47.7% and female cancers 52.2% of the total cases. In males the three most frequent cancers were leukemias, non-Hodgkins lymphoma and lung cancer. In females breast cancer was the most common cancer accounting for 38.5% female followed by ovarian cancer 13.6%. CONCLUSIONS Our institution based cancer registry indicates hematological malignancies are the most common cancers in males in Punjab followed by lung and colorectal cancer. In females breast cancer is the commonest cancer followed by ovarian cancer. Gall bladder cancer is relatively more frequent in women while cervical cancer is less commonly observed in our patient population. Despite biases until population based incidences are available, studies like ours may prove beneficial for future health planning and research.