# Cancer registries in Pakistan: a scoping review

Source: https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-cancer-registries-pakistan-scoping-review-2025/  
OnCo record `paper-cancer-registries-pakistan-scoping-review-2025` (Key paper). Data CC BY-NC 4.0, attribute "Data from OnCo (onco.cc)"; commercial use needs a licence.

## TL;DR

A review of every cancer registry it could find in Pakistan: seventeen, covering only 19 of the country's 129 cities, with no unified national registry.

## Summary

Following Joanna Briggs Institute and PRISMA-ScR guidance, the authors searched databases and grey literature, screened 3,714 abstracts and included 102 studies, 92 reporting registry data and 10 describing registry characteristics.

## Fields

- Kind: Key paper
- Last checked: 2026-11-04
- Journal: The Lancet Regional Health - Southeast Asia
- Year: 2025
- DOI: 10.1016/j.lansea.2025.100615
- Authors: Virani SS, Ahmed KS, Springer M, et al.
- Findings: Seventeen cancer registries were identified, with varying scope and geographical coverage.; Only 19 of Pakistan's 129 cities contribute data to at least one registry.; Data collection ranged from paper forms to advanced software; the Karachi Cancer Registry had the highest research output.; Funding sources were limited and several registries faced operational challenges.
- What it means: Explains why Pakistan's cancer numbers are estimates: the registries that exist cover a minority of the country and do not share one method. The authors call for a national registry system, which the 2025 amendment to the National Institute of Health law now requires.
- Caveats: Counts registries that have published; registries with no publications may be missed.

## Sources

- Lancet Reg Health Southeast Asia 2025: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lansea.2025.100615
- PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40584692/

## Connected records

- institutions: [Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi](https://onco.cc/institutions/aku-karachi/), [National Institutes of Health, Islamabad](https://onco.cc/institutions/nih-pakistan/)

---
JSON: https://onco.cc/api/v1/entities/paper-cancer-registries-pakistan-scoping-review-2025.json