title: Commonest Cancers in Pakistan - Findings and Histopathological Perspective from a Premier Surgical Pathology Center in Pakistan.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  There are no recent authoritative data about incidence and prevalence of various types of cancers in Pakistan.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To determine the frequency of malignant tumors seen in our practice and provide a foundation for building a comprehensive cancer care strategy.
  
  
  METHODS
  10,000 successive cases of solid malignant tumors reported in 2014 were included. All cases had formalin fixed, paraffin embedded specimens available and diagnosis was based on histological examination of H and E stained slides plus ancillary studies at the Section of Histopathology, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi. The latest WHO classifications were used along with the latest CAP protocols for reporting and the most updated TNM staging.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There were 9,492 (94.9%) primary tumors while 508 (5.1%) were metastatic. Some 5,153 (51.5%) were diagnosed in females and 4,847 (48.5%) in males. The commonest malignant tumors in females were breast (32%), esophagus (7%), lymphomas (6.8%), oral cavity (6.7%) and ovary (4.8%), while in males they were oral cavity (13.9%), lymphomas (12.8%), colorectum (7.9%), stomach (6.9%) and esophagus (6.6%). Malignant tumors were most common in the 5th, 6th and 7th decades. About 8% were seen under 20 years of age.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Oral cavity and gastrointestinal cancers continue to be extremely common in both genders. Breast and esophageal cancers are prevalent in females. Lung and prostate cancer are less common than in the west. Ovarian cancer was very common but cervix cancer was less so.
authors.affiliation: Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Histopathology, Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi, Pakistan E-mail : zubair.ahmad@aku.edu.
authors.forename: Zubair
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Ahmad
authors.forename: Romana
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Idrees
authors.forename: Saira
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Fatima
authors.forename: Nasir
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Uddin
authors.forename: Arsalan
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ahmed
authors.forename: Khurram
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Minhas
authors.forename: Aisha
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Memon
authors.forename: Syeda Samia
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Fatima
authors.forename: Muhammad
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Arif
authors.forename: Sheema
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hasan
authors.forename: Rashida
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ahmed
authors.forename: Shahid
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Pervez
authors.forename: Naila
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kayani
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging / Q000379:methods; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000473:pathology*; D010154:Pakistan / Q000453:epidemiology; D010340:Pathology, Surgical / Q000379:methods; D015995:Prevalence; D055815:Young Adult