At least 130 trained physicians independently assigned causes to 122鈥?29 deaths, which occurred in 1路1 million homes in 6671 small areas that were randomly selected to be representative of all of India, based on a structured non-medical surveyor's field report.
7137 of 122鈥?29 study deaths were due to cancer, corresponding to 556鈥?00 national cancer deaths in India in 2010. 395鈥?00 (71%) cancer deaths occurred in people aged 30-69 years (200鈥?00 men and 195鈥?00 women). At 30-69 years, the three most common fatal cancers were oral (including lip and pharynx, 45鈥?00 [22路9%]), stomach (25鈥?00 [12路6%]), and lung (including trachea and larynx, 22鈥?00 [11路4%]) in men, and cervical (33鈥?00 [17路1%]), stomach (27鈥?00 [14路1%]), and breast (19鈥?00 [10路2%]) in women. Tobacco-related cancers represented 42路0%(84鈥?00) of male and 18路3%(35鈥?00) of female cancer deaths and there were twice as many deaths from oral cancers as lung cancers. Age-standardised cancer mortality rates per 100鈥?00 were similar in rural (men 95路6 [99%CI 89路6-101路7] and women 96路6 [90路7-102路6]) and urban areas (men 102路4 [92路7-112路1] and women 91路2 [81路9-100路5]), but varied greatly between the states, and were two times higher in the least educated than in the most educated adults (men, illiterate 106路6 [97路4-115路7] vs most educated 45路7 [37路8-53路6]; women, illiterate 106路7 [99路9-113路6] vs most educated 43路4 [30路7-56路1]). Cervical cancer was far less common in Muslim than in Hindu women (study deaths 24, age-standardised mortality ratio 0路68 [0路64-0路71] vs 340, 1路06 [1路05-1路08]).
Prevention of tobacco-related and cervical cancers and earlier detection of treatable cancers would reduce cancer deaths in India, particularly in the rural areas that are underserved by cancer services. The substantial variation in cancer rates in India suggests other risk factors or causative agents that remain to be discovered.
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and US National Institutes of Health.