A study of 500 cancer patients to know any relation between malignancy and socio-economic status

It was a common belief that cancer is more prevalent among the lower socio-economic group. It was also generally accepted that mortality was higher in this group due to various reasons. In this hospital based study, an attempt had been made to find out any association between cancer incidence and socio-economic factors like age, sex, education, occupation, and income. The relative distribution of cancers in different parts of the body was also analysed. Collected data for cancers of the breast, lung, cervix and gall bladder were also analysed separately. It was found that there was a significant association between the occurrence of cancer and the middle income group earning Rs 12000-60000 annually. On the other side people having higher education and higher income were less likely to suffer from cancer and presented at an earlier stage.