Frequency of gastrointestinal tumours at a teaching hospital in Karachi

ABSTRACT

Malignant gastrointestinal tumours are amongst the commonest tumours exhibiting an annual increase globally. There is a change in the morphological site of involvement observed over the years. In this study biopsy proven malignant gastrointestinal tumours seen at Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre, Karachi from 1961-1992 were analyzed with reference to age, sex, topography and histology. The study showed an increase in malignant gastrointestinal tumours over the years, from 9% in 1961 to 17% in 1992 with respect to all malignant tumours reported. The tumours affected a much younger age in our population, 74% occurring between 35-64 years of age. Carcinoma oesophagus accounted for 10% of all malignancies [48.7% male and 62.4% female gastrointestinal tumours], while gastric carcinoma remained unchanged [14% male and 9% female GI tumours]. The colorectal carcinoma [25.4% of male and 20.1% of female GI tumours] and carcinoma pancreas [1.2% male and 1.5% female GI tumours] were less frequently seen. It was observed that malignant gastrointestinal tumours have increased significantly over the years in our local population as part of international trend and are occurring at a much younger age as compared to western population. Carcinoma oesophagus was seen more frequently than gastric carcinoma and colorectal carcinoma. A substantially higher number tend to be more anaplastic being seen at an advanced stage of disease at the time of diagnosis