Listen to Story Wearing a tightly tied waist cord on an underskirt, a common practice in traditional saree dressing, may lead to skin cancer, warn doctors in a recent report published in BMJ Case Reports. The condition , colloquially referred to as "petticoat cancer," highlights a risk many women, especially in rural India, may face due to the friction and pressure exerted by these garments over long periods. The report describes two cases of older women who developed Marjolin ulcers, a rare but aggressive type of skin cancer, attributed to the prolonged, tight binding of saree waist cords.
The chronic pressure and friction cause repeated skin inflammation, which over time may lead to ulceration and, in severe cases, progression to skin cancer. Previously termed "saree cancer," experts now identify the tightly bound waist cord as the primary culprit. In the first case, a 70-year-old woman presented with a persistent ulcer on her right side, accompanied by pigmentation loss.
Despite wearing a petticoat underneath, the tight waist cord caused sustained skin damage, leading to a Marjolin ulcer, diagnosed as squamous cell carcinoma. In the second case, a woman in her late 60s who wore a lugda , a traditional saree style tied directly at the waist without an underskirt, developed a similar ulcer that ultimately spread to her lymph nodes. Previously termed "saree cancer," experts now identify the tightly bound waist cord as the primary culprit.
(Photo: Vani Gupta/India Today) Marjo.
