NEW DELHI – The cancer time bomb is ticking with one in every eight men and nine women projected to get the disease at some point in their lives. One in 61 men will develop lung cancer and one in 44 Indian women will have breast cancer.
Figure this!
14.5 lakh new cases in 2016
17.3 lakh new cases by 2020
7.36 lakh deaths in 2016
These are some of the revelations of the Indian Council of Medical Research’s (ICMR) India Cancer Report that raises an alarm over the march of the epidemic and urges the government to make it a notifiable disease to ensure improved detection.
Data from 27 hospital-based and 27 population-based ICMR cancer registries shows India has already seen 14.5 lakh new cases in 2016 and will see 17.3 lakh new cases by 2020. As many as 7.36 lakh deaths have been attributed to cancer this year alone.
New trends put breast cancer on top among all forms in India, accounting for 10 per cent (1.5 lakh) of all new cases. Cancer of the cervix, formerly number one, is now the third most prominent cancer after lung, which constitutes 1.14 lakh of all new cancer cases.
“Vaccination for cervical cancer and sensitisation of women has helped reduce the incidence of cancer of the cervix. What’s shocking is incidence of tobacco-related cancers, which is a whopping 30 per cent of all cancers,” said Dr A Nand Kumar of the ICMR.
While breast cancer leads among women, men are most affected by mouth cancer followed by lung cancer, both tobacco-related. As a group, gastrointestinal tract cancers are the second most common after tobacco related.
On India’s undetected cancer burden, Dr Nand Kumar said: “Around 25 per cent gap in detection is estimated at the level of ICMR registries alone. We need many more cancer registries especially along the Gangetic plains where we are now seeing a high incidence of gall bladder cancers but don’t know why.”
The fact is ICMR registries cover only 10 pc of India’s population, implying a high degree of hidden cancer burden.
Experts say cancer detection rates must be improved by making cancer a notifiable disease as done by states such as Punjab, Karnataka, Tripura and West Bengal.
Among men, cancers of colon, rectum and prostate are rising while in females, cancers of breast, uterus, ovary and lungs are on the rise. Cervix cancer is declining.
Dr GK Rath, formerly head of AIIMS oncology, attributed a high incidence of colon cancer among Indian males to their “westernised food habits which involve low intake of vegetables”.
Location wise, the highest incidence of cancers among males in India continues to be in Aizawal (Mizoram) and among females in Papumpare in Arunachal. All ICMR registry sites are reporting a rise in cancer incidence by over 2 pc annually.
