Cancer data analysis in the pathology department, combined military hospital, Multan, Pakistan 2002-2007.

This study was conducted with the objective of providing the pattern of cancer distribution from a hospital based tumour registry at CMH, Multan, in comparison with patterns from other National Studies. The retrospective study of malignant tumours recorded at the pathology department from 2002-2007 featured analysis in terms of age group, gender and type of tumour. Over the six year period the total number of malignancies was 930 with a male to female ratio of 1.4:1. The common tumours in males, in order of decreasing frequency were leukaemia, prostate cancer, urinary bladder cancer, skin cancer and lymphomas. In females they were leukaemia, breast cancer, skin cancer, gallbladder cancer and lymphomas. In both sexes, the most common malignancy was leukaemia, which is contrary to other studies, pointing to a possible link with extensive use of pesticides and other agricultural chemicals in this region of the country.