Bronchial Neoplasms among the Ceylonese

REPORTS on studies of lung cancer have originated chiefly in western countries where heavy industry has reached a high stage of development and where the smoking of tobacco is very freely indulged in. It was therefore thought that a study of the features of bronchial carcinoma in Ceylon, a non-industrial country where the customs and habits of people differ from those of the west, might be helpful in the understanding of the general problem of carcinoma at this site. The data for this study were obtained from the records of cases admitted to the Thoracic Unit of the General Hospital, Colombo, to which all cases of suspected pulmonary neoplasms are referred from various parts of Ceylon. Incidence.-According to biopsy records there were 22 cases of bronchial carcinoma and 5 cases of bronchial adenoma during the five year period 1952-56. In a series of 2562 consecutive autopsies performed in Colombo during this same period there were only 5 bronchial carcinomas-an incidence of 0-2 per cent. Of a series of 1149 admissions to the Thoracic Unit during 1954-56, 22 were carcinomas of the bronchus, i.e. 19 per cent of the admissions. Sex and age incidence.-Sixteen of the bronchial carcinomas occurred in men and 6 in women-a proportion of 2 7: 1. Three of the bronchial adenomas occurred in men and 2 in women. In the 16 cases of carcinomas where the age had been recorded, 2 occurred in each of the third and fourth decades, 5 in each of the fifth and sixth decades and 2 in the seventh decade. All the bronchial adenomas occurred in adults above the age of 30 years.