Abstract

Cancer is a major global killer. Incidence and prevalence vary worldwide. Kashmir has a unique cancer belt. We propose to examine upper GI malignancy in south Kashmir's four major districts: Anantnag, Kulgam, Shopian, and Pulwama, representing 33% of Kashmir valley's population. Methods: The study was carried out in the twin districts of Anantnag and kulgam at health care clinics that were administered by the government at the secondary level. Between the years 2010 and 2020, an EGD was performed on a total of 11391 different patients. Results: The initial biopsy was performed on 980 patients who had a suspicion of malignancy; 94% of those patients tested positive for malignancy on HPE; 2.7% of those patients had favourable HPE features; a repeat biopsy was performed on 3.7% of patients whose results were inconclusive, and 2.7% of those patients tested positive for malignancy on the repeat biopsy.In this investigation, the prevalence was determined to be 8.32%. Malignancy of the oesophagus was found in 62.34% of patients, while malignancy of the stomach was found in 37.6% of patients. Conclusion: In conclusion gastrointestinal cancers are leading cause of malignancy in Kashmir with rising trend compared to rest of the world

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