Response to the Editorial Titled "Cancer Registry - What is the Need to be Attentive and Why Now?"

By Farhana Badar

Affiliations

1. Department of Cancer Registry and Clinical Data Management, Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital and Research Centre, Lahore, Pakistan

doi: 10.29271/jcpsp.2023.06.716

Sir,

The editorial titled "Cancer Registry - What is the Need to be Attentive and Why Now?" is featured in the Journal of College and Physicians and Surgeons Pakistan, Volume 33, Issue 5, which was published in May 2023.¹ The authors have attempted to summarise the information on cancer registration in Pakistan. Dr. Bhurgri's 1999 report on cancer in the Karachi South district is referenced in the fourth paragraph, along with a 2009 report on the Karachi Institute of Radiotherapy and Nuclear Medicine, a 2019 report from the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission's Cancer Registry, and a more recent report from the Karachi Cancer Registry. However, the papers released by the Punjab Cancer Registry (PCR), which has been operational since 2005, are not included. The PCR has released at least four publications on cancer registration. The most recent paper on population-based cancer registration in Lahore, Pakistan, was published by the PCR in 2021 and spans a 10-year period from 2010 to 2019. It is the only publication in the country to present cancer statistics at the population level over a 10-year timeframe.² Without acknowledging this publication, the editorial lacks consistency.

COMPETING INTEREST:
The author declared no competing interest.

AUTHOR’S CONTRIBUTION:
FB: Reviewed the editorial and responded to it.

REFERENCES

1. Arif A, Qureshi H. Cancer Registry - What is the need to be attentive and why now? J Coll Phys Surg Pak 2023; 33(5):489-90. doi: 10.29271/jcpsp.2023.05.489.
2. Badar F, Mahmood S. Cancer in Lahore, Pakistan, 2010-2019: an incidence study. BMJ Open 2022; 11(8): e047049. doi: 10.1136/ bmjopen-2020-047049.