Against the national cancer incidence rate of 97.4 per 1 lakh in females and 92.4 per 1 lakh in males, the city’s 105 women in every 1 lakh and 93.4 men in every 1 lakh population are suffering from the dreaded disease.
CHANDIGARH – Women and men in Chandigarh have the highest incidence rate for cancer in the country.
Against the national cancer incidence rate of 97.4 per 1 lakh in females and 92.4 per 1 lakh in males, the city’s 105 women in every 1 lakh and 93.4 men in every 1 lakh population are suffering from the dreaded disease.
This startling revelation has emerged from the maiden report on, ‘Cancer burden in Chandigarh and Punjab’, prepared under a collaborative project of the Tata Memorial Centre (TMC), Mumbai; the PGIMER, Chandigarh; the Punjab Department of Health and Family Welfare and Director Health Services, Chandigarh.
Based on the data of population-based cancer registries in Chandigarh, Mohali, Sangrur and Mansa, covering a population of 4.5 million, the first-of-its-type report will be released at a special function being held at the PGI here on Tuesday.The report, exclusive excerpts of which has been accessed by The Tribune, reveals that 427 of the total 5 lakh Chandigarh women reported cancer ailment while 406 of the total 6.06 lakh men fell in the grip of the killer disease in a single year (2013). When it comes to deaths, the city’s 164 males and 123 females died due to cancer in 2013 alone. This constituted a cancer death rate of 38 per 1 lakh men and 32.7 per 1 lakh women in the UT.
As if this is not enough, female breast cancer incidence rate of 37.5 per 1 lakh population in Chandigarh is the highest in the country. The breast cancer incidence rate of 33.9 per 1 lakh women in Mohali is also higher than that of Mumbai (31 per 1 lakh) and Kolkata (26.1 per 1 lakh). Breast cancer is the predominant form of the disease in all the population-based cancer registries.Cervix uterine cancer is second leading cancer site followed by breast cancer in Chandigarh, Mohali and Sangrur. However, it is the first leading cancer site in Punjab’s Mansa district.
Lung and prostate cancer are the predominant form of cancer in the city’s urban male population while cancer of the oesophagus is the predominant form in the rural areas, says the report.Moreover, the prostate cancer incidence rate of 8.8 per 1 lakh in Chandigarh is also higher than that of Mumbai (7.8 per 1 lakh) and Chennai (7 per 1 lakh). However, it is lower than that of New Delhi (10.7 per 1 lakh). However, the city’s men suffer most from lung cancer, the incidence rate of which is the highest — 12.4 per 1 lakh — among all types of cancer sites and again higher than the national average of 11 per 1 lakh.
Oesophagus cancer incidence rate among males in Mansa is higher than that in Chandigah, Mohali and Sangrur. In this type of cancer also, Chandigarh’s incidence rate of 5.6 per 1 lakh beats the national average of 5.4 per 1 lakh.While around 50 to 60 per cent male cancer cases are surviving in the urban population, the survival rate among the rural male population is around 35 to 40 per cent. Among the females, around 70 per cent survive in the urban population while their survival rate in rural areas is 45 to 50 per cent.
Women more prone
The estimated risk of getting cancer in urban areas for male is 1 in 9 in Chandigarh and 1 in 11 in Mohali while in females, it is 1 in 8 in both the cities. Comparatively, the risk of getting cancer is low in the rural areas as compared to urban areas (1 in 20 males and 1 in 16 females) in Sangrur and Mansa districts.
Mohali also at high risk
Mohali female cancer incidence rate of 104.2 per 1 lakh is also higher than the national rate of 97.4 per 1 lakh. However, male cancer incidence rate of 74.3 per 1 lakh is lower than the national rate of 92.4 per 1 lakh.
Punjab on a par with country
Belying the general perception that cancer burden is higher in Punjab as compared to others states in the country, the registry data indicates that the burden of cancer in Punjab is comparable with the national burden. The rural cancer registry rates are also in comparison with other rural cancer registries in the country.
Total population covered
Population-based cancer registry covered a total of 1.05 million population of Chandigarh, 1 million of Mohali, 1.6 million of Sangrur and 7.7 lakh of Mansa district.
