Sari-Hautkrebs

Vorlage:Use British English Saree cancer is a type of skin cancer that occurs along the waistline in females wearing saree, and caused by constant irritation which can result in scaling or pigmentation. It is a rare type of cancer and generally found in the Indian subcontinent where saree is a lifetime costume worn by the female. It is similar to Marjolin's ulcer in etiology, involving chronic inflammation.

Etiology

Saree tightened around the waist. A man wearing dhoti is seen in the background.

Saree is a common female costume in the Indian subcontinent. It is a piece of long (generally Vorlage:Convert) cloth made of different materials like cotton, silk, nylon, chiffon or synthetic fabric. It is worn with an inner skirt (petticoat) underneath which is tightened around the waist by a thick cotton cord. This is a life time costume of most of the Indian women. Saree is attached to the waist of the women throughout the day in the hot and humid climate. The waist is often soiled with dust and sweat and remains without proper cleaning. This causes pigmentation and mild scaling over the waist. This, in turn, causes chronic irritation and gradually malignancy in the waistline.

Signs and symptoms

The foremost symptoms of saree cancer is the constant irritation with scaling and pigmentation in the waistline; gradually these become chronic. The person may have non healing ulcer or hypopigmented patch or a growth like lesion over the waistline. The lesion may be associated with serous discharge with foul smell.

Management

Excision biopsy is required to confirm the diagnosis of saree cancer. In many cases local excision with skin grafting is considered as the appropriate treatment. Different ways of wearing petticoat may help the saree-wearers to prevent it. Some such strategies are:

• loosening the petticoat
• Changing the usual rope-like belt to broader ones that reduce pressure on the area
• keep changing the level of tying petticoat

History of the disease

Saree is a costume commonly worn by many women for the entire lifetime

In 1945 Dr. Khanolkar and Dr. Suryabai described a new type of skin cancer with hypopigmented and thickened scars which were more likely to progress into malignant lesions. They termed it as "dhoti cancer" which is similar to saree cancer. Dhoti is a traditional male costume wrapped around the waist. The term "saree cancer" was first used by a group of doctors lead by Dr. A.S. Ptil from Bombay Hospital, India in a publication in the Bombay Hospital Journal. The dermatological problem in the waist of the Indian women wearing saree were recognised before by some other researchers. This type of cancer is now synonymous with the malignant degeneration of a chronic wound which was described by Jean-Nicolas Marjolin in 1828.