Oral cancer most common in city,surrounding areas: experts

Karachi
The oral or mouth cancer has become the most common cancer in Karachi and its adjoining areas alarmingly increasing among male population due to use of tobacco, especially gutka, paan, naswar, mainpuri, a leading nuclear medicine expert disclosed this on Saturday.
Dr Akhtar Ahmed, director at the Karachi Institute of Radiotherapy and Nuclear Medicine, was talking to The News at the sidelines of a symposium on thyroid cancer held here at the Karachi Institute of Radiotherapy and Nuclear Medicine.
The symposium on “Multidisciplinary Thyroid Cancer” was organised by the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) and Pakistan Society of Nuclear Medicine (PSNM) at Kiran.
Renowned oncologists, radiotherapists, nuclear medicine experts, physicians and surgeons from various medical institutes across Pakistan addressed the gathering. “The oral cancer is also on the rise among women and children,” he said and added that use of tobacco products orally had increased alarmingly among population in Karachi and Thatta and due to that not only men but women and children were also suffering from oral cancer, and approaching the Kiran and other health institutions for the treatment.
“Lungs cancer is the second-most prevalent cancer among males in Karachi and that is primarily due to smoking, passive smoking and environmental pollution”, Dr Akhtar highlighted, saying breast cancer was still on the top among cancers in Pakistani women, especially those visiting the Kiran.
Speaking about the thyroid cancer among local population, the expert claimed that it was the most growing cancer in the country and asserted that at the current rate of its spread, it would become the second most common form of cancer among women and third most common among men by 2030.
“Fortunately, thyroid cancer is completely curable if diagnosed early but in case of late detection, mortality rate is extremely high”, he told the scribe and added that at Kiran, qualified oncologist, radiotherapists and nuclear medicine experts were not only using nuclear technology in diagnosis of cancers but also providing treatment using chemotherapy and radiotherapy.
Giving the reasons for holding a symposium on thyroid cancer, Dr Akhtar said risk of developing thyroid cancer peaks in women in their 40s and 50s while men are usually diagnosed in their 60s and 70s. “Women are three times more likely to develop thyroid cancer than men,” he added.
Earlier addressing the symposium, other speakers said about 200 million people in the world had some of thyroid disease, adding that thyroid nodules were common and treatable but should always be investigated since a small portion of them were cancerous.
They said majority of thyroid cancers have a favourable prognostic and informed the gathering that in recent year, the incidence of papillary thyroid cancer, the most common form of thyroid malignancy, was growing at an alarming rate.
The experts said exposure to high level of radiation, as well as, use of less than recommended dose of iodine in diet were at the risk of having thyroid cancer and stressed that a multidisciplinary approach was required for the treatment of the thyroid cancers.
Pakistan Society of Endocrinology President Dr. Saeed Mehar gave an introduction to the investigation of a thyroid nodule and spoke about recent developments in the molecular biology of the thyroid cancer.
Dr. Durre Sahib, director at the Multan Institute of Nuclear Medicine and Radiotherapy (Minar), highlighted the role of ultrasound in the management of thyroid diseases, especially cancers, while President Pakistan Nuclear Medicine Society Dr Humyun Bashir discussed new paradigms in thyroid cancer management.
Dr. Musab Riaz from NORI Islamabad, Dr Masih-uz-Zaman, Dr Shahid Pervez from AKUH, Dr Naseem Baloch and Dr Nadeem Abbassi among other specialists, pathologists also spoke on the various aspects of the thyroid disease and its diagnosis and management. An interactive case discussion session followed the discussion on surgical aspects of the treatment of thyroid cancer while case studies were also conferred upon at the concluding segment.