Epidemiology of Brain Tumors in Mangalore

Brain cancer accounts for approximately 1.4 % of all cancers and 2.3 % of all cancer-related deaths. The tumors are particularly deleterious in that they can interfere with the normal brain function. Although there has been a recent increase in the number of epidemiologic studies of brain cancer, little consensus exists regarding the nature and magnitude of the risk factors contributing to its development. In addition to the differences in methods and eligibility criteria used and in the representativeness of the patients studied, other confounding factors exist. These include the variable use of proxies to report information about case subjects, differences of control groups selected, substantial heterogeneity of primary brain tumors, inconsistencies in histologic diagnoses, definitions and groupings, and difficulties inherent in retrospective analyses. The aim is to find out the epidemiology of brain tumors in Mangalore.