Pattern of malignancy in a place in Western India.

Analysis of 4500 cases of malignancy encountered in a general hospital in Western India showed that: (1) parts of buccopharynx were the site involved in nearly 25 per cent of these cases. In women the incidence of buccopharyngeal carcinoma was less than in men but was not insignificant (nearly 5 per cent of all malignancies found in women); (2) the cervix was the next frequent site involved accounting for 22 per cent of the total and 80 per cent of the female cancer; (3) cancer of breast was not less common (5 per cent of the total and 12 per cent of the female cancer); (4) oesophageal cancer was far more common than malignant neoplastic lesions of the other parts of the gastrointestinal tract (two-thirds of all cases being found in the oesophagus); (5) carcinoma of skin was not a common lesion.High frequency of the types of cancer mentioned in the first two paragraphs is a "ommon facto" of many such reports from India. On the other hand, reported incidences of the types mentioned in the paragraphs number (3), (4) and (5) show wide variations in different parts of the country.