Gynaecological malignancies in a rural institute in India

A rural institutional study was carried out with the object of recording the number and type of gynaecological malignancies in relation to socio-economic status, age, parity, contraceptive use and mode of presentation in current gynaecological practice. Between 1985 and 1999 gynaecological malignancies comprised 42.52% of all malignancies in women. Cancer of the cervix (33.3%) and breast (27.3%), constituted 60.6% of all cancers in women. Cervical cancer (80%) and ovarian cancer (15%) were the main gynaecological tumours. Endometrial cancer was found only in 2.0% of all female genital malignancies; 76.5% women were from villages. Seventy-two per cent of women with gynaecological malignancies were from a lower socio-economic class. Nearly half (44.6%) of the overall cases occurred between ages of 35 and 49 years. Most women, irrespective of the site of cancer, were multiparous. Sterilisation had been the main birth control method used. Other methods of contraception had hardly been used and hence had no relevance to the incidence of cancers. Over the years the number of gynaecological cancers is increasing, irrespective of social class, with more cases at younger age.