RATIONALE: Health education programs and screening methods, such as clinical breast examination and examination of the cervix, may help reduce the number of women who develop breast cancer and cervical cancer.

PURPOSE: This randomized clinical trial is studying the early detection of breast cancer and cervical cancer in women in India.

OBJECTIVES:

• To investigate the effectiveness of well planned health education programs (HEP) and low-cost screening methods (e.g., clinical breast examination [CBE] and visual inspection of the cervix painted with 4% acetic acid [VIA]) in down-staging and reducing the incidence of and mortality due to breast and cervical cancer.

OUTLINE: Patients are randomized to 1 of 2 arms.

• Arm I (intervention): Participants undergo intervention comprising health education programs (HEP), clinical breast examination (CBE), and visual inspection of the cervix painted with 4% acetic acid (VIA) every 2 years for up to 8 years. Participants also undergo active surveillance over 8 years.
• Arm II (control): Participants receive one HEP. Participants also undergo active surveillance over 8 years.

DISEASE CHARACTERISTICS:

• Resides in 1 of 20 geographically defined clusters within the slums of Mumbai, India

PATIENT CHARACTERISTICS:

• Not specified

PRIOR CONCURRENT THERAPY:

• Not specified