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Twenty-four deaths were due to cancer of the
breast and 19 to cancer of the uterus (womb). Cancer
of the intestines, excluding the rectum, caused 32
deaths in males and 29 in females. The mortality
from cancer of the stomach, as is generally the case,
was higher in males than in females, the proportion
of deaths being 16 in males and 13 in females. There
were 10 deaths from cancer of the rectum—4 in males
and 6 in females—although cancer of this region is
generally commoner in men.
Cancer is divided into two main classes—carcinoma
and sarcoma. Five of the deaths certified were stated
to be due to sarcoma, 189 to carcinoma and 26 to
cancer not otherwise defined.
During 1927 the Ministry of Health have published
reports on Cancer of the Uterus and Cancer of the
Rectum describing the results of the investigations
made at the instance of the Departmental Committee
on Cancer which was appointed in 1923. Sir George
Newman points out in the Annual Report for 1926 that
the object of the report is to enable Public Health
Authorities to inform the community at large in order
to encourage co-operation in the common struggle against
the disease, and also to make developing knowledge
regarding cancer easily accessible to the medical profession.
The following statement is in great part taken
from these official publications.
Cancer of the Uterus or Womb.
The Ministry's two reports and Circular 826 on
this subject are based on an inquiry into 80,000 cases
treated in hospitals in 16 different countries, including
England.