Medical Report: Gastric Cancer On A Rise In Karachi

Cancers of the gastrointestinal tract are on the rise in Karachi, as shown by a 10-year study conducted by the Dow University of Health Sciences (DUHS).

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

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

Of all of the cases, 13,746 (60.1%) were registered in women, while 9,112 cases (39.9%) were recorded in males. Breast cancer tops the list of cancers superseding oral cancer and esophageal cancer.

In adult males, cancer of the lip and oral cavity was 33.6%, non-melanoma skin cancer 7.2%, cancer of the esophagus was 6.8%, cancer of colorectal was 6.7%, and cancer of the stomach was 4.9%.

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

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

According to Prof. Asif Qureshi, the high number of cancers of the gastrointestinal tract and oral cavity can be linked to the growing use of tobacco products and unhealthy food products.

The spike in breast cancer was in line with the international disease pattern and linked with increasing awareness of the disease among women and early diagnosis.

As per the report, non-melanoma skin cancers are among the top 10 cancers in Karachi.

The reason for the soaring prevalence of this cancer, it says, could be the city’s proximity to the equator as compared to other regions of Pakistan or increased production of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) in the town over the past years.

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