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29
CANCER.
The new cases reported numbered 610, 480 of the patients being in attendance at the
Dispensary, 93 under the care of the Poor Law Medical Service, and 15 under that of private
practitioners. The sexes and ages of the new patients are given in Table 22, and their
occupations in Table 23.
The deaths of patients reported for the first time last year, numbered 42, 33 of them
being certified as due to consumption, and 4 to other causes.*
In connection with 79 cases reaching a fatal issue during the year, 169 reports and
certificates had been received during three years (1908-10), including 113 from the Poor Law
Service relating to 50 of the cases. The frequency of "repeat" reports is indicated by the
appended figures.
No. of Reports
received.
1
2
3
4
5
Total
79 cases.
39
18
12
3
3
Poor Law
50 cases.
20
18
5
1
3
No. of Reports
received.
6
7
8
10
Total
79 cases.
1
1
1
1
Poor Law
50 cases.
1
1
-
1
The total number of cases known to the Department during the year was 1,259, a total
very nearly equal to ten times the number of deaths (127), which was the estimate forecasted
in the Annual Report for 1909. That that estimate will probably require revision is made
fairly evident from the numbers already given and is confirmed by a consideration of the fact
that of the 127 persons certified as dying of consumption last year, 56 were unknown to the
Department prior to the registration of their deaths. As there were 71 deaths among 673
"definite" cases of the disease, it is reasonable to assume that the 56 deaths represented
another 500-550 unknown "definite" cases, a calculation which takes no account of
" suspect " cases.
CANCER.
The deaths from the malignant new growths included under this popular title
numbered 165 last year, as compared with 156 in 1009 and 185 in 1908. The nett mortality
was at the rate of 1.08 per 1,000 persons, 0.05 above the rate for the preceding year (l.03),
but 0.03 less than the mean rate (1.11) for the five years 1905-09. A comparison of the mean
rates for the two quinquennia 1891-95 and 1006-10 (0.86 and 1.12) shows an apparent increase
in the mortality during the latter period of nearly 30 per cent. The change is described as an
"apparent" increase because corrections are necessarv, but have not been made, for the
variations in the ages and sex-proportions of the populations during the twenty years covered
by the figures. Last year's deaths comprised 60 of males (equal to a rate of 1.05 per 1,000
males; mean rate, 0.09) and 96 females (rate, 1.10; mean, 1.18).
The nett rate in Marylebone (1.24) was the only one in excess of that in the Borough
(Table 10), but of the corrected rates (Table 10) those in Marylebone (1.10) and Willesden
(1.14) exceeded that in the Borough (0.97). Last year's nett rates exceeded the mean rates in
London, Marylebone, Hampstead, and Willesden.
The nett mortality rates for the past year ranged from 0.63 in Church Ward to 1.74 in
Maida Yale, Church and Hyde Park being the only two Wards with rates below their
* The fact of the death of a person originally reported as consumptive being certified as due to a cause other
than consumption does not necessarily mean that the deceased was not consumptive.