Institutional-based tumor registry of hematopoietic malignancies: A 4 years' preliminary report from Karachi

BACKGROUND: Pakistan has a population of over 198 million making it the world's sixth populous country. However, operational population-based cancer registries in Pakistan are lacking. Limited data are available based on institutional or Karachi Cancer Registry from Karachi; however, no exclusive registry for hematological malignancies is established till date. Hence, we decided to conduct a database analysis to determine the frequencies of various hematological cancers in our tertiary care center in Karachi. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Retrospective assessment of 366 patients presented to Hematology Department, Liaquat National Hospital and Medical College from May 2012 to May 2016 with confirmed diagnosis of hematological cancers was performed. Data were retrieved from hospital-based tumor registry. All pro forma was filled by qualified medical research officer, which included demographic data as age, gender, history, disease type, and its stage at presentation. RESULTS: Male gender was predominant and accounted for 69.9% (n = 256) and female accounted for 30.0% (n = 110) of the total cases with the male-to-female ratio of ~2:1. The mean ages of female and male patients were 42.9 ± 20.7 and 49.7 ± 18.1 years with the median age of 45 and 51.5 years, respectively. In males, the three most frequent malignancies were chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) (16%), acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), and acute myeloid leukemia (AML) (12.8% of each). In females, AML was the most common cancer accounting for 21.8% followed by CML (18.1%) and ALL (10%). CONCLUSIONS: Our institution-based tumor registry indicates CML and AML were the most common cancers in males and females, respectively, followed by ALL. Chronic lymphoid leukemia, unlike in the West, is seen infrequently in our population. National and provisional hematological tumor registry will be beneficial for future health planning and research.