Dilip Gandhi, BJP MP from Gujarat and head of the Parliamentary panel examining the provisions of Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act, may have not found a “link” between cancer and tobacco, but a study conducted in his State itself has claimed that out of total cancer cases registered at a health centre, nearly 60 per cent men and 25 per cent women had tobacco-related cancers (TRCs). The study is published in the recent edition of Indian Journal of Community Medicine from the house of Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGMIER), Chandigarh.
Gandhi-led panel had kicked a controversy when it said that there was no Indian study to confirm that tobacco use leads to cancer. It had suggested the Government defer its decision to cover 85 per cent of cigarette packets with the pictorial warning. The suggestion had left the Government embarrassed with the Opposition and the medical fraternity gunning for him.
However, in what could be said to be yet another proof of the link between cancer and tobacco, the study conducted between 2009-2011 showed that TRCs in males and females respectively constituted 58.2 per cent and 25.3 per cent of the total 2360 cancers from Gandhinagar district and registered at Gujarat Cancer and Research Institute in Ahemdabad.
“Thus, tobacco was observed to be the most important identified cause of cancer in this study also. Tobacco chewing has resulted in a huge burden of oral cancers and oral pre-cancerous condition,” said the authors Prof Parimal J Jivarajani, Rupal R Mecwan, Vishruti B Pandya, Himanshu V Patel, and Jayesh B Solanki from Department of Community Oncology and Medical Records of the GCRI.
A total 2360 cases (1374 males and 986 females) and 736 mortality cases (464 males and 272 females) were recorded during the period. After investigation, it was found that the leading sites of cancer in males were mouth (14.56 per cent) followed by tongue (13.17 per cent), lung (8.37 per cent) and esophagus (6.26 per cent) besides others. With 25 per cent of the total cases, breast cancers topped the cancer list among women followed by cervix uteri (15.11 per cent), ovary (5.38 per cent), mouth (4.77 per cent), Tongue (4.26 per cent), myeloid leukemia (4.26 per cent) and others. Overall, about one-third of cancers in India occur due to consumption of tobacco-related products.