'South Asian women in UK hiding cancer due to stigma'

Experts fear a number of patients, including those of Indian-origin, are choosing to suffer in secret and avoid cancer screenings which could help save their lives, the BBC study found.

"Some women went to the extent of not even having treatment because, if they went, people would know as they'd lose their hair," said Pooja Saini, the lead researcher at CLAHRC North-West Coast, a research arm of the state-funded National Health Service (NHS) that looks into health inequalities in the country's medical system.

"Others feared it might affect their children because no-one would want to marry them," she said.

Saini added that her review suggests the influence of men in South Asian families and elders in the wider community may also be a contributing to the issue as the women would go only if they were given permission.

The study found that it was difficult to say how widespread the problem was because little information has been collected on ethnicity and mortality.