Histological Pattern of Ppimary Malignant Lung Tumours Diagnosed in an Indian Tertiary Care Hospital

Lung cancer is the most frequently diagnosed major cancer in the world and is the leading cause of cancerrelated mortality in both men and women(Brambella et al., 2001; Hussain, 2010). This is largely due to carcinogenic effects of cigarette smoke. Over the coming decades, changes in smoking habits will greatly influence lung cancer incidence and mortality as well as prevalence of various histological types of lung cancer (Travis, 2004; Hussain, 2010). Deaths due to lung cancer are more than those due to colorectal, breast and prostate cancers put together (Parkin et al., 1988; Khuri et al., 2001). Nearly 70 per cent of all new cases of lung cancer in the world occur in developed countries (Parkin et al., 1988) but incidence is rising at an alarming rate in developing countries also (Parkin, 1935). In India, lung cancer was thought to be infrequent (Nath and Grewal, 1935), but as per the data given in first All India Report (AIR) 2001-2002, in males the lung cancer is leading site of cancer in 8 of the 12-population based cancer registries (PBCR’s) (ICMR, 2001-2002). Lung cancer was reported to be the second most common malignancy in an earlier hospital based study from Kashmir valley (Dhar et al., 1993), the first being cancer of the upper gastrointestinal tract (Shah and Jan, 1990; Dhar et al., 1993). However, a recent study by Koul et al., (2010) reported that Srinagar, the summer capital of Jammu & Kashir has the highest incidence of lung cancer among males in India (Koul et al., 2010).