KARACHI: A 10-year study conducted at the Dow University of Health Sciences — which has the largest public sector network of diagnostic centres in the city — has shown that cancers of gastrointestinal tract are on the rise in Karachi, which is found to have the highest number of oral cancer in the country.

The data of the study titled View of Common Cancers in Karachi, Pakistan: 2010-2019 Data from the Dow Registry was released on Thursday following its publication in the Pakistan Journal of Medical Sciences.

Prof Mohammad Asif Qureshi led the study with colleagues Prof Saeed Khan and Dr Shaheen Sharafat under the supervision of Prof Mohammad Saeed Qureshi.

The Dow Cancer Registry is part of DUHS department of pathology. The study — which recorded 22,858 cancer cases from 2010 to 2019 — also showed a higher number of women with cancer than men.

Of the total cases, 13,746 (60.1 per cent) were registered in women while 9,112 cases (39.9 per cent) were recorded in men. Breast cancer tops the list of cancers followed by oral cancer and esophageal cancer.

In adult men, cancer of lip and oral cavity was found to be 33.6 per cent, non-melanoma skin cancer 7.2 per cent, cancer of esophagus was 6.8 per cent, cancer of colorectal was 6.7 per cent and cancer of stomach was 4.9 per cent.

In adult women, the prevalence of breast cancer was 53.2 per cent, cancers of lip and oral cavity was 10.4 per cent, cancer of esophagus was 5.3 per cent, cancer of colorectal was 3.3 per cent and non-melanoma skin cancer was 3 per cent.

In children, the percentage of brain cancer was 15.8 per cent, Hodgkin’s lymphoma was 14.2 per cent, cancer of colorectal was 8.1 per cent, cancer of endocrine and related organs was 15.3 per cent and non- Hodgkin’s lymphoma was 7.8 per cent.

“While comparative analysis of the number of cancer cases over the years was not scope of our study, we did compare our data with other studies conducted in the country. The high number of cancers of oral cavity and gastrointestinal tract can be linked to the growing use of tobacco products and consumption of unhealthy food products,” said lead investigator Prof Asif Qureshi.

The spike in breast cancer, he pointed out, was in line with the international disease pattern and might be linked with growing awareness of the disease among women and diagnosis.

According to the report, non-melanoma skin cancers are among the top 10 cancers in Karachi. The reasons for high prevalence of this cancer, it says, could be city’s proximity to the equator as compared to other parts of Pakistan or increased production of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) in the city over the past years.

It may be mentioned here that CFCs are a group of (internationally banned) odorless manufactured chemicals causing damage to the Ozone layer. They are used in the manufacturing of aerosol sprays, blowing agents for foams and packing materials, as solvents and refrigerants.

Published in Dawn, October 2nd, 2020