Cancer profile in eastern Rajasthan

A study to determine the pattern of various malignancies in Eastern Rajasthan was conducted for the year 1990 by Cancer Registry, S.M.S. Medical College, Jaipur. This is the first study of its kind from this region where an effort has been made to put the cancer profile in East Rajasthan in perspective. A total of 2509 histologically proven cancer cases were recorded from the various government and private hospitals in this region. There were 1443 males and 1066 females. Maximum number of cases were seen in the 6th and 5th decade. Genital tract cancer (21%) formed the largest overall group of cancers. When combined with the urinary system (7.6%)--the uro-genital tract cancers (28.7%) formed almost one-third of all cancers in this region. Cancer of the prostate (11.40%) and urinary bladder (9.1%) in males recorded the highest incidence in the country. Cancer of the female breast (19.4%) surpassed cancer cervix (18.2%). The frequency of penile, testicular, bone, skin, anorectal cancers and lymphoma was on the higher side. Whereas the incidence of stomach, oesophagus and lung cancer was on the lower side. An urgent need is felt to study the various aetiological factors responsible for these significant variations in Eastern Rajasthan.