Unhealthy and sedentary lifestyle besides tobacco consumption is rapidly fuelling cancer in the country. Consider this: One in 44 women across the country and 21 in the national Capital will develop breast cancer in their lifetime while on an average one in 36 women is at the risk of developing cervix cancer.
There’s no good news for the males either, as far as cancer is concerned. One in 61 males (one in 22 from Aizawal ) and one in 106 males (one in 51 males from Ahmedabad) in the country have risk of developing lung and mouth cancer respectively, as per the data available from the ICMR.
The “Three-Year Report of Population Based Cancer Registries 2012- 2014” report which has used data collected over three years from 27 PBCRs in the country was released on Wednesday by a team of health experts led by ICMR DG Soumya Swaminathan.
It points out that the highest age adjusted incidence rate (AAR) (271/100,000) of cancer of all anatomical sites among males is seen in Aizawl district in Mizoram State and among females in Papumpare district (AAR=249.0) in Arunachal Pradesh.
In view of rising cases, which is due to various reasons such has increased life expectancy and increased population, various leading health experts including Dr GK Rath, who heads the cancer centre at the AIIMS have called for making the cancer a notified disease. He also said that people need to adopt health lifestyle and shed tobacco to keep the cancer at bay.
Among males, cancer of the mouth has been found to be highest in registry areas in Barshi (Maharashtra), Ahmadabad, Nagpur, Pune, Wardha and Bhopal followed by Mumbai and Aurangabad.
Among females, highest cases of cancer of the breast was reported from 19 of 27 PBCRs and the second or third leading site in the remaining 8 PBCRs. Cancer of cervix is the leading site of cancer in the rural areas in Barshi district of Maharashtra, and in Mizoram, Tripura and Nagaland. Among females, East Khasi Hills in Meghalya had the highest AAR (9.1) for cancer of the mouth.
The estimated total burden (for the country as a whole) of cancer for the year 2016 is around 14.5 lakh new cases and 17.3 lakh new cases in 2020, as per the report. Cancers associated with use of tobacco accounted for about 30 per cent of all cancer in males and females.
On the good note, all the PBCRs at Bengaluru, Barshi, Bhopal, Chennai, Delhi and Mumbai showed a significant decrease in the incidence rate of cervical cancer.