The current cancer situation in metropolitan Dhaka

Abstract

Dhaka, the country's most populous metropolis, is also one of the most polluted because of its heavy reliance on industry and the resulting release of harmful emissions and carcinogens into the air. The data collected from the questionnaire survey was used to investigate the correlations between the incidence of cancer with age, gender, genetic predisposition of cancer, and exposure to risk factors such as environment, habits, exposure to carcinogens, the patient's occupation, the proximity of a mobile tower within 30 to 50 meters and the use of tobacco product. From this study, significant correlation has been found between the incidence of cancer with the closeness of patients’ residence to cell phone towers, with a confidence interval of 95% and p value of 0.04. In addition to this, correlation of cancer incidence has also been found with the exposure to various carcinogens (cl 95% and p value 0.05). The results of this study provide a glimpse of the state of cancer incidence in Dhaka today. However, extensive research on a larger population is necessary to verify the results of this study.