Sari wearers at greater risk of cancer, Indian doctors claim They have discovered cases of cancer in women who wear the traditional petticoat too tightly under their saris. In three recent cases of what they call 'sari cancer,' they believe women contracted the disease through skin irritation from knotting their petticoats too tightly in the same position over a long period of time. Although they have only found three cases they believe there may be many unrelated cases in India's vast rural hinterland where access to cancer specialists is rare. The string of the sari petticoat, if tied in the same place day after day for an extended period, can cause chronic irritation. The constant irritation can result in scaling or pigmentation. These tight petticoat strings induce various dermatoses along the waist in females and may rarely give rise to malignancy," said Dr G. D Bakshi, associate professor of surgery at Grant Medical College, Mumbai. "Pigmentation and mild scaling over the waist in Indian women have become very common and in most of the cases, it is considered to be normal," he added. Women could reduce the risk by loosening their petticoats or using wider belts and alternating the silicon of the knot on their skin. He called for further studies to examine the link but said women should be alert to the risk. "This condition does not occur overnight, the cases we have found were wearing sari's for over 30 years and had persistent irritation along the waistline for over 5 years," he said.