Love to wear sarees daily? Beware, draping it tightly may give you skin cancer, warned doctors in Bihar and Maharashtra on Wednesday. 

After treating two women with this type of malignancy, doctors from Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College in Wardha, and Madhubani Medical College and Hospital, in Bihar warned that tightly tied waist cord of the underskirt (petticoat) traditionally worn under a saree, particularly in rural parts of India, may cause continued friction linked to chronic inflammation, leading to skin ulceration, and in some cases, progress to skin cancer.

The phenomenon has previously been described as “saree cancer,” but it is the tightness of the waist cord that’s to blame, the doctors pointed out in the study published in the BMJ Case Reports, and dubbed it as ‘petticoat cancer’.

In the first case, a 70-year-old woman sought medical help because of a painful skin ulcer on her right flank that she had had for 18 months and which wouldn’t heal. The skin in the surrounding area had lost its pigmentation. She wore her petticoat underneath her Nauvari saree which was tightly tied around her waist.

The doctors conducted a biopsy, which revealed that the woman had a Marjolin ulcer, also known as squamous cell carcinoma (ulcerating skin cancer).

Another woman in her late 60s consulted doctors for an ulcer on her right flank that wouldn’t heal for two years. For 40 long years, she has been wearing a traditional ‘lugda’ saree daily, which is tied very tightly around the waist without an underskirt.

A biopsy specimen revealed that she too had a Marjolin ulcer. The cancer had already spread to one of the lymph nodes in her groyne when she was diagnosed.

A Marjolin ulcer is rare but aggressive. It develops in chronic burn wounds, non-healing wounds, leg ulcers, tuberculous skin nodules, and in vaccination and snake bite scars, the doctors explained.

The doctors noted that while the exact mechanism by which chronic ulcers or wounds become malignant remains unknown, “every cutaneous lesion that is continuously irritated (chronically inflamed) has been shown to have a higher risk of developing malignant transformation.”

“Constant pressure at the waist often leads to cutaneous atrophy, which ultimately breaks down to form an erosion or an ulcer,” they added.

The experts said that this ulcer often “does not heal entirely due to ongoing pressure from tight clothing. A chronic non-healing wound results, which may develop malignant change”.

Last Updated:October 26, 2024, 13:31 IST

Indian Railways has launched a Vande Bharat special train from Lucknow to Chhapra in Bihar.

The train runs six days a week.

As Diwali is approaching next week, trains heading to Bihar from across the country are packed. Many people booked their tickets four months in advance, but some missed out, and now there is a no-room status on all trains. Here’s some good news: a Vande Bharat train has started for Bihar’s Chhapra Junction, allowing you to travel back to your home state for Diwali and Chhath with ease. Confirmed tickets are still available on this train. Chhapra is a major junction in North Bihar, from where you can reach other districts like Siwan, Gopalganj, Vaishali, and even Muzaffarpur within a few hours.

Indian Railways has launched a Vande Bharat special train from Lucknow to Chhapra in Bihar. The train number is 02270. It departs from Lucknow NR at 2:15 PM and arrives at Chhapra at 9:30 PM, stopping at Sultanpur, Varanasi, Ghazipur, Ballia, Suremanpur, and finally Chhapra.

This train brings relief not only to people in Bihar but also to those in Eastern UP from Ballia and Ghazipur, where Chhath Puja is celebrated with great enthusiasm. The train runs six days a week, with no service on Tuesdays. According to the IRCTC website, plenty of tickets are still available from October 27 through the Chhath period.

The Vande Bharat train offers two classes: Chair Car and Executive Car. From Lucknow to Chhapra, the fare for a Chair Car is Rs 1780, while the fare for an Executive Car is Rs 3125. The return train departs Chhapra at 11 PM, reaching Lucknow at 6:30 AM. The return fare is Rs 1285. The base fare for the train is Rs 1105, but there is a catering charge of Rs 530 when travelling from Lucknow to Chhapra. On the return journey from Chhapra to Lucknow, the catering charge is only Rs 35, as no food is served during the night.

This train is also a great option for those planning to travel from Delhi to Bihar. If direct trains from Delhi to Bihar are fully booked, travellers can take another train or a UP government bus to reach Lucknow and then catch the Vande Bharat special from there. This allows you to avoid the heavy crowd and reach Bihar conveniently in time for Chhath Puja.