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55
CANCER.
Forty-four deaths occurred from Cancer or Malignant Disease.
The Ward Distribution was as follows:—
North-East Ward 13
North-West Ward 10
South-East Ward 8
South-West Ward 13
It is impossible to state accurately the relative prevalence of
the disease in the different wards unless we know the age distribution
of the population in each ward.
Car;er is essentially a disease of advanced years, or, at any
rate, of late middle age; 13 of the deaths occurred amongst people
under 50 years of age and 30 in those over 50. It has been said
that the disease is more prevalent in low-lying districts; the distribution
of the disease in Acton lends no colour to that theory. It is
undoubtedly true that Cancer is on the increase throughout the kingdom.
A comparison with past years cannot be made for Acton, as
the returns from outside institutions are not available before 1905,
and in 1906, 12 out of the 44 deaths occurred outside the district.
Seventeen of the deaths were in males and 27 in females. The
preponderance of females is entirely due to the number of deaths
from Cancer of the Reproductive Organs. In 6 instances the Uterus
was affected, in 1 the Ovaries and in 4 the Breast, all in females. It
is significant that the greatest increase in recent years has been due
to the large number of deaths from Cancer of the Alimentary canal.
There were in Acton last year 16 deaths from Cancer of the Stomach
and Bowels. It is probable that some of these deaths in former years
would not have been correctly diagnosed, and the apparent increase
may have been partly due to improved methods of diagnosis.
According to all experience, this does not entirely explain the
relative frequency with which the digestive organs are attacked. Cancer
of the Alimentary canal is now of more frequent occurrence
than formerly.