The past few decades have witnessed widespread research to challenge carcinogenesis; however, it remains one of the most important health concerns with the worst prognosis and diagnosis. Increasing lines of evidence clearly show that the rate of cancer incidence will increase in future and will create global havoc, designating it as an epidemic. Conventional chemotherapeutics and treatment with synthetic disciplines are often associated with adverse side effects and development of chemoresistance. Thus, discovering novel economic and patient friendly drugs that are safe and efficacious is warranted. Several natural compounds have proved their potential against this dreadful disease so far. Magnolol is a hydroxylated biphenyl isolated from the root and stem bark of Magnolia tree. Magnolol can efficiently prevent or inhibit the growth of various cancers originating from different organs such as brain, breast, cervical, colon, liver, lung, prostate, skin, etc. Considering these perspectives, the current review primarily focuses on the fascinating role of magnolol against various types of cancers, and the source and chemistry of magnolol and the molecular mechanism underlying the targets of magnolol are discussed. This review proposes magnolol as a suitable candidate that can be appropriately designed and established into a potent anti-cancer drug.

A retrospective study of cancer at high risk sites in the region of the head and neck was undertaken at the Bombay Cancer Registry, in 1968, to evaluate the effects of tobacco when chewed or smoked. There is sufficient evidence available today to indict chewing and smoking of tobacco as factors of great importance in the etiology of oral, pharyngeal, laryngeal, and esophageal cancers—the most common sites affected by the disease in Greater Bombay. This cause/ effect association is probably as intimate as that of cigarette smoking and lung cancer. The carcinogenic action of chewed tobacco is particularly evident at those sites where the bolus is retained in place for any length of time. Likewise, inhalation of tobacco fumes during the act of smoking produces a stream of gas and of solid particles which impinges directly on the oropharynx and especially on the soft palate initially and exposes smokers to the increased risk of developing cancer at exactly these posterior sites in the oropharynx, rather than more anteriorly in the oral cavity where the tissues do not directly bear the brunt of the onslaught from the smoke. It is revealing to find that the high risk sites involved in tobacco chewers appear to be the least affected in smokers, and vice versa.

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In order to identify the high-risk groups in the communityCancer of the cervix is often chosen for aetiological studies, because of its widespread prevalence, ease of diagnosis and close association with physical relationship in marriage and childbearing.A substantial number of investigators in Western countries have shown that the major risk factors leading to cancer of the uterine cervix are: early age at first marriage, at first coitus and at first pregnancy and include multiparity, a low socio-economic status, sexual promiscuity, and co-habitation with uncircumcised male partners. The question arises as to whether these factors also apply, to a similar or a greater degree, to women in the developing countries, where the standard of living is low, evidence of malnutrition exists and the majority of women marry and begin to bear children at an early age. The few controlled studies on cervical cancer reported from India (Wynder et al., 1954; Rao et al., 1959; Lakhanpal and Chablani, 1968) offer conflicting evidence with regard to the effect of the risk factors mentioned above. The purpose of the present study was to examine closely the association of certain suspected risk factors in cervical cancer, in the female population of Greater Bombay, to identify the high-risk group in the community, and to compare the results of the study with reported Western experience. Incidence of cervical cancerAlthough cancer of the cervix uteri occurs at all ages, it is mainly observed during middle life. An increase in the age-specific rates is first observed at around the age of 25, followed by a steady rise up to the age of 59. Thereafter an apparent decline becomes noticeable. In fact, most registers report a precipitous rise in incidence of cervical cancer around the age of 30 (Jussawalla et al., 1968).

A prospective study of adverse drug reactions was recently completed at the Clinical Pharmacology Unit of J. J. Group of Hospitals. 338 patients were included in this study, and adverse reactions were noted by a team of workers including a nurse and a physician. World Health Organization definitions were used to describe adverse reactions. A total of 20 per cent of the patients showed adverse reactions to drugs. There was no difference with regard to age, occupation, or religion of the patients. Reaction was more common in the undernourished and also with a larger number of drugs or longer duration of stay in the hospital. The common reactions were neurologic, gastrointestinal, and allergic. Significant information is obtained by analysis of the percentage reaction in patients receiving drugs and the percentage of reactions per doses administered. It is confirmed that short-term intense surveillance programs are capable of providing useful data on incidence and types of adverse drug reactions.

SUMMARY.-The Bombay Cancer Registry has been in operation since June 1963 and reliable morbidity data on cancer have since been obtained for the first time in India, from a precisely outlined population base delineated by residential qualifications within strict geographical boundaries. An attempt has been made to examine the differences noticed in the site-specific cancer risks, between 2 groups of people living in this area-the Parsi community and the total Bombay population. The over-all age adjusted rates for the Parsis were found to be lower than those for the total population and more noticeably, their site-specific risks seem to differ radically from the Greater Bombay pattern. Thus, cancers of the buccal cavity, pharynx, larynx, oesophagus and cervix uteri, which are frequently seen in the total Bombay population, are less commonly observed in the Parsi community. On the other hand the Parsi rates are higher at sites such as the female breast, body of uterus, ovary, prostate and skin and for all leukaemias. Even though the population pyramid of the Parsi community is very different from that of the total population of Bombay, age correction does not change the basic outline of risk patterns noted in the 2 groups. Such site-specific contrasts are believed to be due to differences present in the habits, customs and economic status of the two groups. (A study of the probable aetiological factors of epidemiological importance involved in this segment of the population, is already under way in Bombay, in an effort to identify the reasons for the differences noted in cancer risks at different sites.) GREATER Bombay is a cosmopolitan city with a population of approximately 4,600,000 persons, drawn from every State in the Indian Union. This urban centre thus represents a true cross-section of the heterogeneous peoples of the country. Thinly dispersed in this vast city, a tiny community known as the Parsis, has made significant contributions far beyond its small numbers would perhaps seem to warrant, to make this city the " Urbs primus in Indis ". The Parsis are distinguished by religious, demographic and socio-economic factors and even though living in the same geographical environment, present striking differences from others in the relative frequencies of cancer noted at various sites. A critical appraisal of this situation was thus considered promising, in order to ascertain whether or not these apparent differences could be ascribed to recognizable variations in habits, customs and socio-economic conditions of these people. With this aim in view, we have attempted to investigate the true state of affairs in this small community in Greater Bombay and if possible, to define the magnitude and nature of the variations observed.