UICC World Cancer Congress 2006

Objective:The prevalence rate of cancer in Nepal is high. Due to poverty and illiteracy, ost of the patient come to the hospital in later stage. smoking and indoor pollution is major problem in urban and rural community of Nepal. This study was to find out the epidemiology and prevalence of lung cancer in community. Methods:A case-control study involving interviews and clinical reports with 764 patients with lung cancer and 795 population-based controls was conducted in different part of Nepal, where mortality rates are high among men and women

Results:Cigarette smoking was found to be the principal cause of lung cancer in this population, accounting for 55% of the lung cancers in males and 37% in females. The attributable risk percentage among females is high compared to elsewhere in Nepal, largely because of a higher prevalence of smoking with local made alcohol among women and poor nutrition diet. After adjustment for smoking, there were also significant increases in lung-cancer risk associated with several measures of exposure to air pollutants. Risks were twice as high among those who reported smoky outdoor environments, and increased in proportion to years of sleeping on beds heated by coal-burning stoves (chulo), and to an overall index of indoor air pollution. Threefold increase in lung cancer risk was found among men industrial occupation. The associations with both smoking and indoor air-pollution were stronger for squamous cell and small cell carcinomas than for adenocarcinoma of the lung. The patient intakes mostly smoked food and having poor vegetables and fruits regularly.