Descriptive Epidemiology of Common Female Cancers in the North East India - a Hospital Based Study

Background: Cancers of the breast, uterine cervix and ovary are common cancers amongst females ofNorth East India. Not much is known about the descriptive epidemiology of these cancers in our population.The present retrospective analysis was therefore performed. Materials and
Methods: The data set available atthe hospital based cancer registry of a regional cancer center of North-East India, containing information onpatients registered during the period of January 2010 to December 2012, was applied. A total of 2,925 cases ofbreast, uterine cervix and ovarian cancer were identified.
Results: Of the total, 1,295 (44.3%) were breast cancers,1,214 (41.5%) were uterine cervix and 416 (14.2%) ovarian cancer, median age (range) for breast, uterine cervixand ovary were 45 (17-85), 48 (20-91) and 45 years (7-80), respectively. Some 43.5% of cases with uterine cervixpatients were illiterate, 5.4% and 5.7% stage I in breast and cervix respectively and 96.4% of ovarian cancersin advanced stage.
Conclusions: Improvement of female education can contribute to increase the proportion ofearly stage diagnosis of breast and uterine cervix in our population. Any population-based intervention for thedetection of cancers of breast, uterine cervix and ovarian cancer should be started early in our population.