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99
Comments on Foregoing Tables.
(1) Deaths from Cancer increase as age advances; this in in
accordance with established facts.
(2) Mortality is about evenly distributed between the two
sexes at all ages, making allowance for the preponderance of females
in the general population.
(3) The two main groups of organs attacked in both sexes are
the alimentary system and the reproductive system. In males
73.3% of the total deaths fall within these groups and in females
88.7%. In both sexes Cancer of the digestive system is the commonest
situation, amounting to 65.8% in males and 51.1% in
females. Cancer of the reproductive system caused 37.5% of the
total deaths in females. Cancer of the larynx, tongue and mouth
is commoner in males than females, 9 deaths occurring in males
as compared with 3 in females. The organs most often attacked
in descending order of incidence are, in males the Rectum and
Bowels (30.4%); the Stomach (20.5%); the Prostate, and Lungs
(6.2%); in females, the Bowels and Rectum (19.7%); the Breast
(19.7%); Stomach (17.4%); and the Uterus (9.4%). This is
slightly different from the incidence in 1932.
The main incidence of Cancer is, in both sexes, on two groups
of organs, both having a common characteristic, namely, periods of
active cell degeneration and regeneration.
Although much research has been made and is continuing into
ike causation of Cancer, the reason why certain cells suddenly
become abnormally active and reproduce themselves excessively,
with resultant invasion of surrounding tissues, has not yet been
elucidated. The Cancer cell is an ordinary tissue cell which has
tacome invested with abnormal properties. Why this should
happen is not yet understood.