Bronchogenic carcinoma in Northern India.

A study of 336 patients with bronchogenic carcinoma was carried out in Chandigarh, Northern India. The findings suggest that its epidemiology differs in several respects from that in Western countries. Almost a third of all patients and 94.4% of the 54 women had never smoked. The peak frequency of bronchogenic carcinoma occurred between the ages of 51 and 60 years, 14.6% of the patients being aged less than 41 years. Of the 232 smokers and ex-smokers, 48.3% had smoked only cigarettes, 28.4% only bidis (made of naturally cured tobacco), 19.8% both cigarettes and bidis, and 3.4% hukkas. There was a clear association between duration of smoking and frequency of carcinoma. Tumours were classified in 287 (85%) of the patients. Squamous-cell carcinoma was relatively more frequent (32.4%) than any other tumour type and occurred almost exclusively in smokers. Adenocarcinoma was found in 13.2% of patients and was the most frequent tumour in non-smokers. No differences of histological type were found between cigarette smokers and bidi smokers.