[Health India]: Gorakhpur, Feb 16 : Early marriage and frequent pregnancies leads women to increased cancer risk, a study in Gorakhpur reveals. Poor literacy levels and lack of awareness compounds the problem, statistics released by the only cancer hospital in the district say.

Doctors at Hanuman Prasad Cancer Hospital say that out of the 4000 cases registered each year, 70 percent are women patients. Cervical cancer and cancer of the gall bladder are more common in women of this region, claiming nearly 1500 lives in the region last year.

Most cases are diagnosed at the last stage leaving very little scope for a full recovery and consequent survival.

Officials say that risk of cancer mortality among women increases all the more as most patients are too embarrassed to seek medical help. "We mainly get patients who are suffering from carcinoma cervix or cervical cancer. The malady mostly afflicts those women who have got married at a very young age of 13 or 14 years. Moreover, giving birth to more than two children in a row is also one of the reasons. Secondly in the rural areas most women avoid going to the doctor for several years, even they are facing severe complications. Hospitals there keep getting patients with bleeding but treatment there does not benefit. Often villagers try out various treatments at home and do not seek medical help due to fears," said Sapna Gupta, a cancer specialist at the hospital.

Gorakhpur has a large rural population and illiteracy levels are high, heightening the risk of cancer. "I was experiencing bleeding and although I was operated upon, the problem remained. Then the doctors examining me found that I had a tumour in my womb," said Sushila, a cancer patient.

It is estimated that the number of cervical cancer deaths in women in the country is likely to rise to 79,000 by 2010, while the number of deaths due to breast cancer and oral cancer would rise to 59,000 and 53,000, respectively.

Cervical cancer comes a close second as the leading cause of cancer related death in women from underdeveloped countries, after breast cancer, which is the most common form of cancer. Studies further confirm that the world over, for all cancers combined, prevalence in women is higher than in men. (ANI)