Cancer: A Result of Our Financial and Social Statuses?
Cancer is a grave and often fatal disease involving abnormal cell hypertrophy and proliferation with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. There are two types of cancerous tumors: malignant and benign. Malignant tumors, the more lethal of the two, tend to invade to other parts of the body, whereas benign tumors are localized tumors. The incidence of cancer globally is about 14.1 million cases as per the statistical data from 2012, and this excludes skin cancer other than melanoma, accounting for 14.6% mortality rate or 8.2 million deaths around the world. The etiology of cancer varies as per its site of occurrence but most common factors leading to development of cancer are tobacco use, alcohol consumption, poor diet, lack of physical activity, exposure to carcinogens, and so on. However, socioeconomic status may also play a role.
Socioeconomic status (SES) is an economic and sociological combined total measure of a person's work experience and of an individual's or family's economic and social position in relation to others, based on income, education, and occupation. Socioeconomic status is commonly conceptualized as the social standing or class of an individual or group. Examinations of socioeconomic status often reveal inequities in access to resources, plus issues related to privilege, power and control. Incidence of cancer cases as a result of socioeconomic status can be effectively dealt with and thus can aid in bringing down the global burden of the disease. Socioeconomic status is constantly linked with lifestyle factors, education and occupational exposure to carcinogenic agents. Therefore, the incidence of cancer in the population, although greatly depends on a number of factors, can also be related to individual’s socioeconomic status. A study conducted in Canada to examine the relationship between socioeconomic status and development of lung cancer highly emphasizes this. It was found that SES affects the development of lung cancer only in the males with class IV and V having increased risks of developing the disease as compared to class I.
This is because socioeconomic status makes an influential impact on lifestyle differences across different classes of the society leading to a class differential in health. The higher use of tobacco among the poorer sections of the society is well-documented. A diet rich in fat as well as an increased intake of meat can increase the risk of contracting lung cancer whereas a diet rich in vegetables can reduce the risk. The study mentioned that lower SES groups consumed high fat intake and also reported unhealthier behaviors as compared to the higher SES. A combination of these factors can influence the risk of developing lung cancer in a low SES individual. An association between BMI and colorectal cancer in men was also found in a cohort study conducted in Austria. An explanation for this finding linking it with obesity has been provided as the growth-promoting effects of insulin and insulin-like growth-factor (IGF-1) which are secondary to obesity. There was also a positive affect observed on the incidence of pancreatic cancer and obesity in males in this study.
Meanwhile, a person’s education level can be useful in raising the awareness about the disease, its screening and its severity. It also helps an individual increase his financial and social standing to be able to avail medical insurance, healthcare benefits, afford treatment and thus puts the individual at a comparatively better position than another individual with lesser or no education. There are mentions in many references about the advantage of earlier screening and earlier diagnosis of cancer cases with an increase in socioeconomic status because an earlier diagnosis can help the patient avail an earlier medical attention to treat the disease in its nascent stages and thus prevent more severe further complications, thereby even reducing the mortality rates. However, this inference does not clearly explain about why there is an effect in the rates of development of cancer cases in the first place. A low socioeconomic status can imply poor nutrition, poor environmental conditions, lack of awareness, poor quality of life, and so on, which are known to have an effect in the development of different types of cancer. Tobacco chewing is more often seen in the lower strata of the society. On the other hand, disease like diabetes, obesity and others are more prevalent in the higher strata of the society, which are also known to be agents contributing to the development of different types of cancer.
One of the interventions to address this disparity in the incidence of cancer can be to strengthen the community as a whole by creating more awareness about the disease, irrespective of the education, income or occupation of the people. Large scale camps for educating the masses about the importance of screenings for cancer detection, and thus reducing the global burden of the disease.
References:
1. Cancer. . . https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Cancer&oldid=755116133.
2. Mao Y, Hu J, Ugnat A, Semenciw R, Fincham S, Group, and the Canadian Cancer Registries Epidemiology Research. Socioeconomic status and lung cancer risk in canada. Int J Epidemiol. ;30(4):809-817.
