The pattern of gynecological malignancies in 968 cases from Pakistan.

Ann Saudi Med 2006;26(5):382-384 The pattern of gynaecological malignancies is different in various geographical areas. It is said that cervical cancer is one of the leading cancers in women worldwide, second only to breast cancer; 80% of new cases occur in developing countries.1 In African and Indian studies as well, it is cervical cancer that is the most frequent of gynaecological malignancies.3,4,5 In most studies from Pakistan,6,7,8 cervical cancer is not the top gynaecological malignancy; ovarian tumors are more frequent. In the previous tumour registry data analysis from our institute ovarian tumors were also more frequent than cervical cancer.9 The histological pattern, particularly of ovarian tumors, is also slightly differen than that reported in different studies as is the age distribution of cases.4,7,10,11 The purpose of this analysis was to find the pattern of gynaecological malignancies in our population and to compare it with other national and international studies.