Sir,

A total Of 5600 biopsy specimens were received in the year 1983 by the Faisal Clinical Laboratory, the pathology section of Institute of Radiotherapy and Nuclear Medicine (IRNUM) and the department of dentistry, Khyber Medical College, Peshawar. These three centres receive biopsies from almost all the divisions of the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) and its adjoining tribal areas covering a population of approxima­tely 15 mfflion people. Of 5600 samples, 1065 were malignant. Following ICDO¹ coding, the five commonest tumours in both the sexes and its comparison with previous report² and those reported from Lahore³ and Karachi³ is shown in Table I and II.


Variations in the frequency of different types of tumours in NWFP are likely to be due to district, ethnic, social and geographical charac­teristics, but further studies and collection of data for another 8 - 10 years is required to draw some positive conclusions.

Thanking you,
Sincerely,
*Fazal Ahmed *M.Iqbal Khadim **G.Rehman ***A.Qayum
*Khyber Medical College, Peshawar. **Institute of Radiotherapy and Nuclear Medicine, Peshawar. ***Department of Pharmacy, University of Peshawar.

The authors are grateful to Prof. NA. Jafarey, Head Department of Pathology,  Jinnah Post-graduate Medical Centre, Karachi for his valuable comments and suggestions.

1. WHO. ICO-O International Classification of Diseases for Oncology, Geneva, WHO., 1976.
2. Ahmad, F., Khadim, M.I., Rahman, G. and Qayum, A. A survey of the neoplastic lesions in the North Western Region of Pakistan. JPMA., 1985; 35 :49-50.
3. Malignant tumours. Report of a multicentre study. Pakistan Medical Research Council, Karachi, August, 1982.