Cancer in the Sindhi population of greater Bombay

The Sindhis are a Hindu subgroup identified by their place of origin and their written spoken language. These are the people who were originally inhabitants of the Province of Sind, which formed a part of the large Bombay Presidency in Undivided India before 1947. The Sindhi Hindus migrated en masse to India after partition. An attempt has been made here to examine the differences found in the site-specific cancer risks among the Sindhi community, the other Hindu groups (such as the Marathi and Gujrati populations) and the Parsi community of Greater Bombay. As the Indian Census Board does not provide age distribution details for the Sindhis, analysis of the data was undertaken employing frequency ratios. Age-standardized cancer ratios (ASCAR) were also utilized for certain calculations. The common sites of cancer appear to vary greatly between the total Bombay population and the Sindhi group. In Sindhi men, for example, cancers of the lung, large bowel, prostate, kidneys and leukemias are most commonly seen, whereas laryngeal and oesophageal cancers predominate in the general population of Bombay. In Sindhi women the breast, uterus, ovary, and skin are the preferred sites, whereas cancers of the cervix and leukemias are predominant in the general population of Bombay. It is interesting to note that there is a degree of similarity in the incidence of cancer at certain anatomical sites, such as the prostate, large intestine, and leukemias in males, and breast, cervix, ovary and uterus in females, between the Sindhi and Parsi communities of Greater Bombay

Betel nut and tobacco chewing; potential risk factors of cancer of oesophagus in Assam, India

Cancer of the oesophagus is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in males in Assam, in north-eastern India, and ranks second for females. The chewing of betel nut, with or without tobacco and prepared in various ways, is a common practice in the region and a case–control study has been designed to study the pattern of risk associated with different ways of preparing and chewing the nuts. 358 newly diagnosed male patients and 144 female have been interviewed together with 2 control subjects for each case chosen at random from among the attendants who accompanied patients to hospital. There were significant trends in risk ratios associated with the frequency of chewing each day, with the duration of chewing in years and with the age at which the habit was started that were apparent for both males and females and which remained significant after allowance was made for other known risk factors, notably tobacco smoking and alcohol consumption. The adjusted ratios, in comparison with non-chewers, were 13.3 M and 5.7 F for chewing more than 20 times a day, 10.6 M and 7.2 F for persons who had chewed for more than 20 years and 10.3 M and 5.3 F for those who had started before the age of 20. Among the different combinations of ingredients that were chewed the adjusted odds ratios were highest for those who had been using fermented betel nut with any form of tobacco (7.1 M and 3.6 F). The risk associated with tobacco smoking and alcohol consumption, which are high in some parts of the world, were less in Assam than those associated with the chewing of betel nut. © 2001 Cancer Research Campaign http://www.bjcancer.co

Risk of betel chewing for oesophageal cancer in Taiwan

Among 104 cases of squamous-cell oesophageal carcinoma patients and 277 controls in Taiwan, after adjusting for cigarette smoking, alcohol consumption, and other confounders, we found that subjects who chewed from 1 to 495 betel-year and more than 495 betel-years (about 20 betel quid per day for 20 years) had 3.6-fold (95% Cl = 1.3–10.1) and 9.2-fold risk (95% Cl = 1.8–46.7), respectively, of developing oesophageal cancer, compared to those who did not chew betel. © 2001 Cancer Research Campaign http://www.bjcancer.co

Global burden of disease due to smokeless tobacco consumption in adults : analysis of data from 113 countries

BACKGROUND: Smokeless tobacco is consumed in most countries in the world. In view of its widespread use and increasing awareness of the associated risks, there is a need for a detailed assessment of its impact on health. We present the first global estimates of the burden of disease due to consumption of smokeless tobacco by adults. METHODS: The burden attributable to smokeless tobacco use in adults was estimated as a proportion of the disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) lost and deaths reported in the 2010 Global Burden of Disease study. We used the comparative risk assessment method, which evaluates changes in population health that result from modifying a population's exposure to a risk factor. Population exposure was extrapolated from country-specific prevalence of smokeless tobacco consumption, and changes in population health were estimated using disease-specific risk estimates (relative risks/odds ratios) associated with it. Country-specific prevalence estimates were obtained through systematically searching for all relevant studies. Disease-specific risks were estimated by conducting systematic reviews and meta-analyses based on epidemiological studies. RESULTS: We found adult smokeless tobacco consumption figures for 115 countries and estimated burden of disease figures for 113 of these countries. Our estimates indicate that in 2010, smokeless tobacco use led to 1.7 million DALYs lost and 62,283 deaths due to cancers of mouth, pharynx and oesophagus and, based on data from the benchmark 52 country INTERHEART study, 4.7 million DALYs lost and 204,309 deaths from ischaemic heart disease. Over 85 % of this burden was in South-East Asia. CONCLUSIONS: Smokeless tobacco results in considerable, potentially preventable, global morbidity and mortality from cancer; estimates in relation to ischaemic heart disease need to be interpreted with more caution, but nonetheless suggest that the likely burden of disease is also substantial. The World Health Organization needs to consider incorporating regulation of smokeless tobacco into its Framework Convention for Tobacco Control

Histological and epidemiological features of breast cancer in different religious groups in greater Bombay

In this paper an attempt has been made to study the histologic and epidemiologic features of breast cancer in women from various religious groups of Greater Bombay. The crude and age- adjusted incidence rates are seen to be the highest in the Parsi community followed by the Christian, Moslem, and Hindu groups. In all the religious groups, an increase in incidence of breast cancer is first seen in the third decade. This is followed by a sharp increase up to the age of 50-54, leading to a slight drop, and then a consistent but slower rise in the older ages. The high risk of developing this cancer in Parsi women as compared with the Christian, Moslem, and Hindu experience may be due to a higher proportion of Parsi women remaining unmarried, their higher age at marriage, lower age at first pregnancy, broad spacing of pregnancies, and fewer numbers of pregnancies. The distribution according to histologic types of breast cancer in India is characterized by a high frequency of infiltrating duct carcinoma. Medullary, lobular, and squamous cell carcinoma were typical histological varieties of the older age groups, whereas ductal carcinoma was encountered mostly in premenopausal women

Suprarenal ligation of the inferior vena cava with a solitary horseshoe kidney

Successful ligation of the inferior vena cava above the renal veins is reported. The patient had a calculous pyonephrosis in the right half of a horseshoe kidney which had been treated with deep irradiation elsewhere, due to a mistaken diagnosis of para-aortic node metastasis from carcinoma of the cervix. The inferior vena cava was injured above the left renal vein during the right nephrectomy. A review of literature is presented regarding experimental and clinical reports of ligation of the inferior vena cava above and below the renal veins