title: Quantitative Review of Oral Cancer Research Output from Pakistan.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Oral cancer is the most common cancer among men and second only to breast cancer among women in Pakistan. For the effective control and prevention of oral cancer, Pakistan needs to recognize the importance of research and generation of the evidence-base which can inform policy making and planning and implementation of intervention programs. The objective of this review was to quantify oral cancer research output in Pakistan.
  
  
  METHODS
  A systematic electronic search in "Medline", "ISI-Web of Science" and "Pakmedinet", supplemented by a Google search, was carried out in January and February, 2014, to identify literature from Pakistan relevant to oral cancer. The selection of publications for the review was carried out according to preset criteria. Data were recorded and analyzed using Microsoft Excel.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 166 publications comprising 62 case series, 36 cross sectional, 31 case control, 10 basic laboratory research, eleven reviews and two trials, were included in this review. Some 35 % of the publications focused on risk factors for oral cancer. COMSATS Institute of Information Technology was the institution with the highest contribution.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  There is a lack of research in the field of oral cancer research in Pakistan. Focused efforts should be put in place to improve both quality and quantity of oral cancer research in the country.
authors.affiliation: Leibniz Institute for Prevention Research and Epidemiology, BIPS, Bremen, Germany E-mail : khan@bips.ini-bremen.de.
authors.forename: Zohaib
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Khan
authors.forename: Steffen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Muller
authors.forename: Shahzad
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ahmed
authors.forename: Justus
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Tonnies
authors.forename: Faryal
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Nadir
authors.forename: Florence
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Samkange-Zeeb
mesh_terms: D035843:Biomedical Research; D019468:Disease Management; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009062:Mouth Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000628:therapy*; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D010154:Pakistan