RISK FACTORS
In the Indian subcontinent, the most common risk factor studied was
tobacco in gastrointestinal cancers, head and neck cancers, lung
cancers, prostate cancer, and urinary tract cancers.[7,8,9]
The estimated risk in male and female cancer patients is 45% and 17%
respectively. Papillomavirus in oral cancer is a good example of
cultural practices affecting risk factors.[10]
Female is commonly affected by cervical cancer in India and it is the
second most common form.[11]
Studies on Tobacco-related cancers are highest in numbers, proportionate
to their prevalence but cervix and breast cancers need to be explored
for their risk factors as the number of studies for modifiable risk
factors for these two cancers are low. The design of the risk factor
studies reviewed if lacks any randomized control trials (RCT) and large
prospective cohorts. It may be due to the complexity of conducting RCT
and high costs. Most of the studies reviewing risk factors have
incorporated cross-sectional or case-control study designs for their
studies.[12]