Medical team probes factors behind cancer in UP village

Taking note of reports of alarming incidence of cancer in Ghazipur village here, district authorities have sent a medical team to probe whether any environmental factor like contaminated groundwater was responsible for it.
The village has reported 18 cases of cancer in the last one year, according to NGO Cancer Jagrukta Kendra.
Chief Medical Officer of the district A K Roy said he had personally visited the village, which has a total population of 5,000, and come across six cases of cancer in the last one year. He confirmed the death of two other patients, reportedly from cancer, in November 2014.

Roy said the district authorities were carrying out further investigations to ascertain if any environmental factor was linked to the present problem.
He said a medical team tested water samples in and around the village to determine if the water was contaminated by harmful chemicals in some parts of the district.
The team is presently stationed in the village and carrying out further medical tests in view of a report provided by the NGO.
The 18 patients were diagnosed with cancer in a check-up of 500 people. The initial reports suggest that in most of the cases, the cause was excessive use of tobacco products. There is a need to carry out a detailed analysis, a member of the NGO said.