The Geography of Cancer

Although virtually nothing is known about the causes of cancer, something is known about its geography; it seems to strike differently in different parts of the world. Last week, 20 cancer experts from eleven nations gathered in Oxford, England, to pool their existing knowledge of the geography of cancer and plan new expeditions to explore its unmapped territory.

North & South. Within the U.S. alone there are striking variations in the ravages of cancer, reported Dr. Harold F. Dorn, chief of the biometrics branch of the National Institutes of Health. U.S. women (except the very young and very old) are more likely to get cancer than men. Negroes are much less likely to get cancer of the skin than whites, but more likely to have cancer of the genital organs. "The incidence rate for all forms of cancer," said Dr. Dorn, "is nearly 50% higher among white persons living in the South than among those living in the North. This is due largely to the higher incidence of cancer of the skin and [mouth] ... in the South."

Other differences reported from around the world:

P: In Denmark, cancer of the esophagus "caused more deaths among persons engaged in hotels and restaurants, and among commercial travelers, than in other occupations." It is commoner in hotel-filled Switzerland than in England. Stomach cancer is commoner in urban than in rural areas in England, but in Denmark the reverse is true.

P: In Bombay, cancer of the mouth, esophagus and penis is commoner than in New York, but cancer of the stomach, womb, breast and skin is rarer than in either New York or London (though the overall incidence of cancer is about the same). Cancer types vary between sects: Parsee women have more than three times as much breast cancer as cancer of the mouth of the womb, but the opposite is true among Hindu women.

P: Javanese and Chinese laborers in the rice fields of Sumatra, living under identical conditions and eating almost the same food, both have a high rate of liver cancer, but the Chinese have a high incidence of stomach ulcers and stomach cancer while the Javanese have virtually none.

Facts & Theories. The members of the symposium had few theories to explain these many puzzling facts. But just making a start on collecting the facts was the fulfillment of a 20-year dream for the U.S.'s Dr. Alexander Symeonidis, who had long been urging just such a meeting. Dr. Symeonidis is consultant to the recently formed Geographic Pathology Unit of the National Cancer Institute of Bethesda, Md. Said Cancer Expert Symeonidis:

"Up until now, cancer research has been focused predominantly on ... animals . . . Nature has been running its own experiment for us all these years while many of us have stuck to rats. Let us begin to watch Nature's experiment as it has never been watched before. By finding the causes of cancer we can work toward eliminating them and saving millions of lives. And before we can find the why of cancer, we must first find the where."

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.