EPIDEMIOLOGICAL TRENDS OF LUNG CANCER: A TERTIARY CARE HOSPITAL EXPERIENCE
Abstract
Objective: Objective was to determine epidemiological trends of lung cancer in patients presenting to a tertiary care hospital and its comparison with previous studies.
Material & Methods: 89 patients with suspicion of lung cancer on clinical and radiological examination, underwent bronchoscopy for histopathology and cytological sampling from Jinnah Hospital were enrolled. Demographic and histopathological characteristics were recorded and compared with the previous data to determine the epidemiological trends of lung cancer.
Results: Mean age of our patients was 56.8 ± 12.1 years. 59(66.3%) patients were male and 30 (33.7%) were female. Histological examination of samples from 14 individuals (15.7%) revealed small cell carcinoma while 52 (58.4%) were diagnosed as squamous cell carcinoma. Adenocarcinoma was found in 15 (16.9%) patients while squamous metaplasia was seen in 2 (2.2%) patients in 6(6.7%) histopathalogy result were inconclusive. Our results were inconsistent with previous local and international studies.
Conclusion: It was concluded that squamous cell carcinoma is the most common cancer in our population and the epidemiological trends of lung cancer are comparable with international trends.