Evidence map›Paper›PMID 31373840›Full record

ReviewJournal of global oncology2019

History of the Growing Burden of Cancer in India: From Antiquity to the 21st Century.

Robert D Smith, Mohandas K Mallath

Open access · goldAbstract readHistorical ArticleReview
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Review in Journal of global oncology, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 44 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
44citing papers in PubMed
5.2field-weighted citation impact, top 3% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

44 citing papers in PubMed, 108 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
  2. Article
  3. Article
  4. The statue of Saroj Gupta (1929-2017).Journal of medical biography · 2025
    Article
  5. A new era of cancer immunotherapy: vaccines and miRNAs.Cancer immunology, immunotherapy : CII · 2025
    Review
  6. Article
  7. Observational
  8. Article
  9. Article
  10. Article
  11. Review
  12. Article
  13. Article
  14. Article
  15. Article
  16. Navigating cancer care in India: Reflections & imperatives.The Indian journal of medical research · 2024
    Article
  17. "Cancer Education on Wheels," a Novel Cost-Effective Method in Creating Awareness in the Community: a Pilot Study.Journal of cancer education : the official journal of the American Association for Cancer Education · 2023
    Article
  18. Article
  19. Review
  20. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

2 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.

Robert D SmithKing's College London, London, United Kingdom.
Mohandas K MallathTata Medical Center, Kolkata, India.
King's College London · GBTata Medical Center · IN

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

This review traces the growing burden of cancer in India from antiquity. We searched PubMed, Internet Archive, the British Library, and several other sources for information on cancer in Indian history. Paleopathology studies from Indus Valley Civilization sites do not reveal any malignancy. Cancer-like diseases and remedies are mentioned in the ancient Ayurveda and Siddha manuscripts from India. Cancer was rarely mentioned in the medieval literature from India. Cancer case reports from India began in the 17th century. Between 1860 and 1910, several audits and cancer case series were published by Indian Medical Service doctors across India. The landmark study by Nath and Grewal used autopsy, pathology, and clinical data between 1917 and 1932 from various medical college hospitals across India to confirm that cancer was a common cause of death in middle-aged and elderly Indians. India's cancer burden was apparently low as a result of the short life expectancy of the natives in those times. In 1946, a national committee on health reforms recommended the creation of sufficient facilities to diagnose and manage the increasing cancer burden in all Indian states. Trends from the Mumbai population-based cancer registry revealed a four-fold increase in patients with cancer from 1964 to 2012. Depending on the epidemiologic transition level, wide interstate variation in cancer burden is found in India. We conclude that cancer has been recognized in India since antiquity. India's current burden of a million incident cancers is the result of an epidemiologic transition, improved cancer diagnostics, and improved cancer data capture. The increase in cancer in India with wide interstate variations offers useful insights and important lessons for developing countries in managing their increasing cancer burdens.

Indexed as

FemaleHistory, 15th CenturyHistory, 16th CenturyHistory, 17th CenturyHistory, 18th CenturyHistory, 19th CenturyHistory, 20th CenturyHistory, 21st CenturyHistory, MedievalHumansIncidenceIndiaMedicine, AyurvedicNeoplasmsRegistries

Identifiers

PMID31373840
PMCPMC7010436
OpenAlexW2965488994

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.