Age at marriage and cervical cancer incidence

Cancer of the uterine cervix is the commonest cancer among Indian women accounting for 1/5 of the total cancer incidence. It is the estimated that by the turn of century 139,000 women in India would be developing cervical cancer. Age at marriage has been recognised as a major risk factor associated with cervical cancer. Over the past 8 decades there has been a rise in age at marriage varying from 14 years in 1901 to 18 years in 1981. Consequently the proportion of women married in the age group 15-19 years has fallen from 88% in 1941 to 45% in 1981. The present paper has attempted to study the effect of change in proportion married below 17 years on cervical cancer incidence for the year 1985 in India. The proportion of married women in the age group 15-19 years was constant around 88% from 1901-41 and from 1951 onwards the reduction in the proportion married has been observed. During the last 35 years, after the start of reduction in the proportion married in the age group (15-19) years, a reduction of 2097 cervical cancer cases or 6.3 percent reduction in the incidence of invasive cervical cancer is observed. It may be postulated that it will take a long time to expect a significant reduction in the incidence of cervical cancer if the primary prevention of rising the age at marriage above 18 years is adopted as a strategy for control of cervical cancer.