title: Cancer screening by local volunteers.
abstract: In a tribal village in Kerala, India, local volunteers were trained to work in a programme for the primary prevention of tobacco-related cancers and the secondary prevention of common cancers. They gathered data on the use of tobacco and alcohol in a population of some 19,000 people, and identified one or more warning signals of cancer in 430 persons, who were subsequently examined by physicians. Confirmation was obtained of 10 new cancers, 7 recurrent cancers, 46 oral precancerous conditions, and 58 precancers at other sites. The community's awareness of cancer problems increased and the people learnt about the importance of self-examination in the detection of breast cancer and oral cancer.
authors.affiliation: Regional Cancer Centre, Trivandrum, Kerala, India.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Mathew
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Wesley
authors.forename: S C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Dutt
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Amma
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Sreekumar
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000488:Allied Health Personnel / Q000193:education; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000517:prevention & control; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007194:India / Q000453:epidemiology; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000517:prevention & control; D008297:Male; D009062:Mouth Neoplasms / Q000517:prevention & control; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000517:prevention & control; D011230:Precancerous Conditions / Q000175:diagnosis; D014838:Volunteers