Karachi: From breast and oral cancers to deadly blood malignancies in children, a total of 15,805 cancer cases were diagnosed at the Aga Khan University Hospital (AKUH) between 2019 and 2024—painting a grim picture of Pakistan’s escalating cancer burden in the absence of a national registry.
Hospital records show that breast cancer remains the most common malignancy overall, especially in women. Oral and head and neck cancers lead in men, while children are increasingly being diagnosed with B-lymphoblastic leukemia, brain tumors like medulloblastoma, and bone cancers including osteosarcoma and Ewing’s sarcoma.
These numbers, compiled by AKU’s institutional cancer registry using the US-based CNExT software, reflect one of the most comprehensive datasets in the country.
Yet, experts caution the figure still represents just a fraction of Pakistan’s actual cancer burden—largely because hospital-based registries, though reliable, are influenced by geography, cost, and access to specialized care.
Despite being one of the country’s leading centers for cancer treatment and data, AKU is struggling with operational roadblocks. Chronic staff shortages, absence of follow-up mechanisms, and insufficient funding have hindered data abstraction and reporting. With no national system to integrate regional data, public health policymakers are left flying blind.
Pakistan’s cancer data landscape remains alarmingly fragmented. A 2025 review published in The Lancet identified only 17 operational cancer registries across the country, with just 19 out of 129 cities contributing any data. Many registries, including those in Punjab, Karachi, and Hyderabad, remain disconnected and under-resourced.
The Karachi Cancer Registry alone recorded 65,886 cases from 2017 to 2021, showing oral cancer with an age-standardised incidence rate (ASIR) of 88.14 in men and breast cancer with an ASIR of 177.82 in women.
On the other hand, the Hyderabad Cancer Registry added 7,169 new cases from 2020 to 2023, again dominated by oral and breast cancers—indicating consistent trends across urban centers.
Despite efforts by the Pakistan Health Research Council (PHRC) to unify these datasets through a National Cancer Registry, only eight hospitals have consistently submitted data.
Contributions from institutions like Shaukat Khanum, Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission, and Armed Forces Institute of Pathology remain limited, making the picture incomplete.
Experts warn that without a centralised registry, Pakistan will remain ill-equipped to prevent or control the spread of cancer. Oral cancer, for instance, is mostly preventable yet continues to rise due to unchecked use of tobacco and betel nut. Breast cancer is increasingly being diagnosed in younger, premenopausal women, yet mammography access remains restricted.
AKU’s cancer team says greater inter-institutional cooperation and digital integration could help close these gaps. But they also stress that without formal government leadership and sustained investment, Pakistan will keep losing valuable time—and lives.
Oncologists say cancer trends are changing fast but without reliable national data, Pakistan’s response remains dangerously slow.
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