More women are dying from cancer than men in Punjab. This is contrary to the global trend where more men die from cancer than women. This is the finding of a study by Bajinder Pal Singh in a recently concluded project, "Cancer deaths in agricultural heartland: a study in Malwa region of Indian Punjab'. The study says the results are surprising and shocking. These are significant as women have adverse sex ratio not only in Punjab, but also the entire country. Releasing operative part of the study to the media, Bajinder Pal Singh revealed: "The data from WHO indicated that all across the globe, 33 per cent more men die of cancer than women. According to the WHO report, this is true not just of the entire world, but also in South Asian region as well'. However, in rural Punjab, cancer deaths reveal a very different picture where 25 per cent more women are dying than men. Since gender studies in cancer deaths in India have been few, it is possible the trend is not restricted to Punjab, but could be true of other states as well, Bajinder remarked. The study covered eight districts of the Malwa region, namely Bathinda, Muktsar, Mansa, Faridkot, Ferozepur, Sangrur, Barnala and Moga. Thirty villages were selected from among the eight districts on random basis and data regarding cancer deaths for five years (2002-2006) was gathered. Among other aspects, statistical analysis was done on cancer mortality and patterns were ascertained with demographic parameters like gender, occupation and time The results indicated correlation between cancer mortality and gender. The study did not ascertain causes, but investigated possible correlations. Some explanations have been offered in the study. Primarily, non- smoking in Punjab could be the reason behind lesser cancer mortality among men. Globally lung cancer is a major killer among men. Punjab, primarily because of the influence of Sikhism which forbids smoking and consumption of tobacco, has the lowest smoking rate in the country. This could be a reason for lesser cancer deaths among men, which could imply cancer mortality among women is more than men. Other possible factors could be differential literacy rates, gender bias, lack of medical facilities and difference between rates of incidence and mortality. The study also revealed more homemakers are dying than farmers. This again is very surprising since it is expected cancer mortality among those in agriculture is greater. The third conclusion was that cancer mortality was increasing every year. The project was submitted at the International Institute of Geo Information Science and Earth Observation (ITC), The Netherlands in March 2008. Conducted under the guidance of Prof Peter Atkinson, head, school of geography, University of Southampton (UK) and Prof Dr Ir Alfred Stein, chairman, department of earth information science, ITC, The Netherlands. The study was funded by the European Commission. He said the yongest cancer victim was three-year-old boy at Bhuttiwala village in Muktsar district. Two four- year- old girls were also among cancer victims -from Aklian village in Bathinda and Jiwanarian in Ferozepur .