ArticleEcancermedicalscience2020
Cancer care in times of conflict: cross border care in Pakistan of patients from Afghanistan.
Article in Ecancermedicalscience, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 17 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
17 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Breast Cancer in Afghan Women: A Systematic Review of Awareness, Screening Practices, and Risk Factors.Journal of epidemiology and global health · 2025Pooled it
- Rethinking cancer care in conflict settings: lessons from Ukraine.BMJ oncology · 2026Article
- Examining clinical pharmacist interventions and identifying opioid medication-related issues in patients with cancer.Journal of oncology pharmacy practice : official publication of the International Society of Oncology Pharmacy Practitioners · 2025Observational
- Afghanistan-Pakistan retinoblastoma "Silk Road" referral pathway.Eye (London, England) · 2025Article
- Global therapeutic mobilities and cancer: a scoping review.BMJ open · 2025Article
- Cancer on Hold, Infections on the Rise: The Unseen Pandemic Effect on Thoracic Surgery in the Developing World.Cureus · 2025Article
- Cancer Incidence in Kabul, Afghanistan: The First Report From the Population-Based Cancer Registry.Cancer medicine · 2025Article
- Article
- Provision of supportive care by an NGO in the face of a dual challenge: cancer and wartime.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2024Article
- HealthCare Access Barrier (HCAB) framework for the barriers to cancer care during conflicts: perspective from Iraq.BMJ oncology · 2024Review
- Enhancing Cancer Care Amid Conflict: A Proposal for Optimizing Oncology Services During Wartime.JCO global oncology · 2023Article
- War and oncology: cancer care in five Iraqi provinces impacted by the ISIL conflict.Frontiers in oncology · 2023Article
- Cancer care in times of conflict: Treatment of patients from Afghanistan, in Pakistan.Frontiers in oncology · 2023Article
- Cross-border strategies for access to healthcare in violent conflict - A scoping review.Journal of migration and health · 2022Article
- Prevalence, Distribution, and Histopathological Features of Malignant Tumors Reported at Tertiary Level in Afghanistan: A 3-Year Study.Cancer management and research · 2022Article
- Delay in Diagnosis of Cervical Cancer in Afghanistan: A Pilot Cross-Sectional Survey.Frontiers in reproductive health · 2021Article
- Cancer care in the time of COVID-19-a perspective from Pakistan.Ecancermedicalscience · 2020Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Armed conflict in Afghanistan has continued for close to 40 years and has devastated its health infrastructure. The lack of a cancer care infrastructure has meant that many Afghans seek cancer care in neighbouring countries, like Pakistan. There remains a significant lack of empirical data on the new therapeutic geographies of cancer in contemporary conflicts. This retrospective single centre study explores the therapeutic and clinical geographies of Afghan cancer patients who were treated at the Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital and Research Centre (SKMCH&RC) in Lahore, Pakistan over a 22-year-period (1995 to 2017) covering major periods of conflict and relative peace. Data was available for 3,489 Afghan patients who received treatment at SKMCH&RC. The mean age at presentation was 42.7 years, and 60% were men. 30.2% came from Kabul and Nangarhar districts of Afghanistan, which have relatively short travel times to Pakistan, but patients from all parts of Afghanistan migrated to SKMCH&RC for treatment. Overall, 34.1% were diagnosed with upper gastrointestinal malignancies and 55.7% presented with late stage III/IV cancer. A wide range of treatments were provided, with 25.4% of patients receiving a combination of chemotherapy and radiation treatment. 52.7% of all patients were lost to follow-up. Outcomes were more favourable for children with cancer, 42% of whom had a complete response to therapy. Complex migration patterns, mixed political economies (refugees, forced and unforced migrants) and models of care that must be adapted to the realities of the patients rather than notional international standards all reflect the new therapeutic geographies that long-term conflict creates. This requires significant new domestic and international (e.g., United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees) policy and practises for providing cancer care in today's contemporary conflict ecosystems that frequently cross national borders.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.