Pakistan oncology survey maps diagnostic, treatment and workforce gaps

A cross-sectional survey of 111 oncology professionals across 10 cities in four Pakistani provinces found that advanced cancer testing, therapeutic services, supportive care and working conditions were unevenly distributed, while 94.6% of respondents reported financial barriers. Conducted from July to September 2025, the study used a structured questionnaire to examine infrastructure, diagnostic and molecular testing, multidisciplinary practice, treatment availability, palliative care, research activity, finances and workforce experiences from the participants’ perspectives. It did not independently verify service capacity, directly measure patient access or assess treatment outcomes.

The participants represented several branches of oncology: 55.9% were radiation or clinical oncologists, 25.2% medical oncologists and 18.9% surgical oncologists. Academic teaching hospitals accounted for 81.1% of respondents, while Karachi and Lahore together represented 66.6%, making the findings an urban-centred professional perspective rather than a complete census of Pakistan’s cancer-care system. The authors described the work as the first structured national survey of its kind, but emphasized that its descriptive, self-reported design maps perceived gaps and should not be treated as a formal national capacity assessment.

Most respondents reported having access to foundational diagnostic infrastructure, including computed tomography, which was reported at 99.1% of participating institutions or settings. More advanced technologies were less uniformly reported: positron-emission tomography was reported by 57.7% of respondents and next-generation sequencing by 61.3%. Among respondents reporting next-generation sequencing, most said fewer than half of their patients could afford it.

These figures describe what oncology professionals reported about their institutional capabilities and the affordability of testing; they do not establish the geographic reach of the technologies or how many patients actually received them. Multidisciplinary practice, research activity and other infrastructure details were also collected, although the supplied results do not provide percentages for all of those domains. Therapeutic and supportive services also showed differences across the reported system.

Immunotherapy was reported by 76.6% of respondents, whereas dedicated palliative care was reported by 39.6%. The figures indicate variation in the presence of these services as perceived by participating professionals, not their quality, utilization or effects on patients. Only 27.9% of respondents said they were satisfied with their compensation.

Exploratory comparisons by institutional sector found that reported radiotherapy infrastructure was concentrated in Atomic Energy hospitals, while the proportion reporting resource shortages increased from 47% in private settings to 73% in Atomic Energy facilities and 92% in government hospitals. Because these were exploratory, self-reported comparisons, they identify perceived sector disparities rather than independently measured differences in service quality. The findings are set against the substantial cancer burden described in the study background.

Pakistan had an estimated 185,748 new cancer cases and 118,631 cancer deaths in 2022, according to estimates cited by the authors, in a population of about 241 million. The survey therefore portrays a cancer-care landscape in which specialized diagnostic and treatment capabilities coexist with unevenly reported supportive services, concentrated urban expertise and pervasive financial constraints. However, the conclusions remain those of a cross-sectional, descriptive survey conducted in 10 cities, with the individual respondent as the unit of analysis.

It establishes what participating oncology professionals perceived about their institutions and working conditions, not the true national distribution of cancer facilities, treatment volumes or patient outcomes, and the authors state that the results are intended to inform rather than substitute for formal national cancer-capacity assessment and planning.

Subject of Research: Self-reported cancer-care infrastructure, diagnostics, treatment availability, financial barriers and workforce conditions in Pakistan

Article Title: Cancer care in Pakistan: a national survey of infrastructure, diagnostic capacity, therapeutic access, and workforce perspectives

Article References: Shaikh, A. J., Shaukat, F., Sarwar, A., Salam, A., Rab, S. U., Abbasi, A. N., Faheem, M., Parvez, N., & Burney, I. A. (2026). Cancer care in Pakistan: a national survey of infrastructure, diagnostic capacity, therapeutic access, and workforce perspectives. BMC Health Services Research, 26(1), Article 1240. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-026-15519-6

Image Credits: AI Generated

DOI: 10.1186/s12913-026-15519-6

Keywords: Pakistan, cancer care, oncology survey, health infrastructure, cancer diagnostics, radiotherapy, palliative care, healthcare financing, oncology workforce, Cancer, care, national