Profile of a cancer detection camp.

ABSTRACT

The organisation and management of a cancer detection camp in rural area of Andhra Pradesh with the help of Lions Club and medical college staff were described. People with any one of the seven warning signals of cancer were asked to attend the camp. More women, most of them in reproductive age, attended the camp with unusual vaginal bleeding and lump in the breast. Among men, a large group complained of chronic cough. Smear for Papanicolaou's stain was used as a tool for screening of cervical cancer. Ten patients (2.5%) had malignant lesions and 16 patients (4.0%) had premalignant lesions. The programme of prevention, public health education and early detection of cancer can be put into action, successfully through cancer detection camps organised in rural areas.