Pattern of cancer in Indian patients hospitalized in Durban, South Africa.

In emigrants from less to more developed countries, consequent changes in environmental factors are associated, inter alia, with changes in occurrences of the chronic diseases of lifestyle. In South Africa, most immigrants from India arrived in the early 1900s. To learn of the current pattern of cancer in the descendants of these people, enquiries were made on several series of patients admitted to RK Khan Hospital in Durban. The results were then compared with those of patients admitted to Ambojogai Hospital, North West India, the ancestral home of the majority of South African Indians. The most prominent differences were the lower percentages in South African Indians in respect of cancers of the mouth/pharynx in both sexes and of cervical cancer, and their considerably higher percentages, principally in the cases of stomach cancer in both sexes, of prostate cancer in males and of breast cancer in females. Discussion of risk factors indicates that in such populations there could be some control over the rises in some cancers, and on reductions in others. However, endeavours at prevention are hindered not only by the lack of knowledge prevailing, but also by their general indifference; likewise, this is the case with western populations.