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The WHO ECBS approved all bacterial strains (except M. morganiiPEI-B-P-74 and S. choleraesuisPEI-B-P-78) for repository enlargement. The strains were stable, suitable for spiking with low CFU numbers, and proliferation was independent of the PC donor.

Objectives: To present 2010-2019 cancer data from the Dow Cancer Registry representing all districts of Karachi (~17.4 million). Methods: The study was conducted at the Dow University of Health Sciences. After ethical approval, the Dow Cancer Registry was established at the largest government-run diagnostic and reference center of Karachi (Dow Labs). All cancers registered during 2010-2019 were analyzed. Patients >18years of age were labeled as adults while those with ages ≤18years were classified as children/young adults. Results: During 2010-2019, a total of 22,858 cancers were registered. Of these, 9,112(39.9%) cancers were diagnosed in males while 13,746(60.1%) in females. Incidence rates for all cancers (all ages) were 108/1,00,000 for males and 188.6/1,00,000 for females. In adult males, cancer of lip and oral cavity was the most frequently diagnosed cancer (33.6%), followed by non-melanoma –skin-cancer (NMSC) (7.2%), oesophagus (6.8%), colorectum (6.7%) and stomach (4.9%). In adult females, breast cancer was the most frequently recorded malignancy (53.2%), followed by cancers of lip and oral cavity (10.4%), oesophagus (5.3%), colorectum (3.3%) and NMSC (3%). In children, most common malignancy was that of brain and nervous system (15.3%), followed by Hodgkin’s lymphoma (14.2%), colorectum (8.1%), endocrine-&-related organs (8%) and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (7.8%) Conclusion: Cancers of lip and oral cavity and breast cancer were the most common malignancies in males and females respectively. In paediatric group, cancers of brain and nervous system were most common. Alarmingly, Karachi males have highest ASR of cancers of lip and oral cavity compared to any other city of Pakistan. doi: https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.36.7.3056 How to cite this:Qureshi MA, Khan S, Sharafat S, Quraishy MS. Common Cancers in Karachi, Pakistan: 2010-2019 Cancer Data from the Dow Cancer Registry. Pak J Med Sci. 2020;36(7):---------. doi: https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.36.7.3056 This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Background and Objective: Miswak is a natural tooth cleaning tool which is being used in many parts of the world since ancient times. It is known to be useful in prevention of dental caries. But still it is not used as frequently as other oral hygiene tools. This research was designed to scientifically establish antimicrobial effect of miswak in vitro against common oral pathogens. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study involving 100 health care workers. This research was carried out in Microbiology section of Dow Diagnostic Research & Reference Laboratory. A questionnaire was designed to test oral hygiene habits of study subjects. Oral swabs were taken and microorganisms were identified by standard bacteriological methods. Test material included four different types of miswaks i.e. (1) root of the peelu (Salvadora persica) tree (in packing) (2) root of the peelu tree (without packing) (3) stem of the peelu tree & (4) stem of the neem (Azadirechta indica) tree. These miswaks were tested against three different types of microorganisms isolated from oral swabs: Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus mutans & Candida albicans by agar diffusion method. Inhibition zone was measured after 24 hrs of incubation at 37oC. Results: Among the miswaks used, root of the peelu tree in both packing and without packing exhibited strong antimicrobial effect against all three tested microorganisms. However miswak taken from the stem of the peelu and neem tree did not show any antimicrobial activity against all three types of the tested microorganisms. Conclusion: Miswak taken from the root of the peelu tree exhibited antimicrobial activity against all the common oral pathogens and could be a good oral hygiene tool in combating dental caries.

Bergenin (BG) is a naturally occurring C-glycoside with demonstrated anti-arthritic potential.