24 January 2004	Saturday	01 Zilhaj 1424

KARACHI, Jan 23: Cancers of the head and neck occur most frequently among men in Karachi while breast cancer is the most commonly occurring cancer among women in the mega city.

According to a one-year study undertaken at the cancer unit of Civil Hospital Karachi, which involved 709 patients, the rate of occurrence of head and neck cancers among men is 28 per cent and that of lung cancer among men is 21 per cent.

At 13 per cent the colorectal cancer was found to be the third most frequently occurring one, followed by lymph nodes cancer, which had a frequency of 10 per cent.

Like in the developed countries, breast cancer was the most frequently appearing one among women in Karachi. The second most frequently occurring cancer among women was head and neck cancers, followed by ovarian and colorectal cancers.

Of the 709 patients, whose data formed the basis of the study, 55 per cent were males and 45 per cent females. The women generally presented the cancer cases earlier than men.

Eleven per cent of the male patients were between 16 and 30 years. Twenty-one per cent of the male patients were between 31 and 45 years. Fifty-four per cent of the patients were between 46 and 60 years. And only 14 per cent of the cases involved men of more than 60 years.

In contrast, 19 per cent of the women having cancers were between 16 and 30 years of age. Twenty-six per cent of the women were between 31 and 45 years. Thirty per cent of the female patients were between 46 and 60 years. And 25 per cent of the women were above 60 years.

A comparison made in the study between the cases, involving patients of Karachi and those of the northern parts of the country, made an interesting reading. As mentioned above, head and neck cancers was found to be the most commonly occurring cancer among men in Karachi. However, the most commonly occurring cancer among male patients belonging to the northern areas was leukemia.

Skin cancer was also reported common among male and female patients from the northern areas. In Karachi, skin cancer does not occur as frequently. Dr Noor Mohammad Soomro, who collated the data, told Dawn that his study underscored the need for having efficient cancer registries in various parts of the country. He said, "The comparison between cancer cases of Karachi and that of the northern areas shows that one type of cancer that occurs frequently in one part of the country may not occur as commonly in other areas.

"The equipment and capabilities needed to deal with this group of diseases varies from type to type. It is, therefore, vital for us to identify first the type of cancers that occur more frequently than others in a particular region of the country and decide upon the equipment and skills that must be provided," he added.

Dr Soomro said that the importance of having efficient cancer registries in different areas of the country could not be overemphasized. He said one district of Karachi had a good cancer registry until 1999.

"However, since then, almost no work has been done in this field. The registry, which used to collect data from hospitals in the then District South of Karachi, is today in the doldrums," he added.