Analysis of the prevalence of cancer in Faisalabad: a single centre study

ABSTRACT

To analyse the prevalence of different types of malignancies presenting to one centre in Faisalabad over a period of 3 years. A retrospective study. The study was conducted at Meezan Lab from January 2007 to December 2009. All the consecutive specimens presenting for histopathology were included in the study. The total number of biopsies dealt with during this period was 3926 out of which 564 were malignant. The male to female ratio was 11.19. The peak age for presentation was between 51-70 in males, while it was 31-50 in females. In males the top five tumours involved the lymph nodes 43[16.6%], prostate 40[15.5%], urinary bladder 28[10.8%], skin 24[9.3%] and vocal cords 16[6.2%]. Among females the most frequently seen tumours were breast 101[33.0%], skin 30[9.8%], lymph node 20[6.5%], ovary 19[6.2%] and esophagus 16[5.2%]. The incidence of malignancies appears to be on the rise. This could be due to an increased level of awareness in the patients causing them to present earlier. There is the need to set up a population based tumour registry on a national level to calculate the true incidence