News Desk: The report of the national cancer incidence, patterns, time trends, and mortality was released by Prof Balram Bhargava, Director General of Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and Secretary, Department of Health Research, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India on 18th August 2020.
The data of the report was presented by Dr. Prashant Mathur, Director of National Center for Disease Informatics and Research (NCDIR), ICMR, Bengaluru. Dr. Amal Chandra Kataki, Director of Dr. B Borooah Cancer Institute joined the event from Guwahati via webinar as a member of the Research Area Panel and Scientific Advisory Committee of NCDIR-ICMR.
The report is based on data from 28 Population-Based Cancer Registries (PBCRs) and 58 Hospital Based Cancer Registries (HBCRs) across India. Presently, there are 36 PBCRs and 236 HBCRs in the country. The Government of India has laid emphasis on prevention and early detection of breast, uterine cervical and mouth cancers.
As per the report, however, in the case of women, only 29% of breast and 33% of uterine cervical cancers are detected in the early stages. And, 25% of head and neck cancer in both men and women are detected at early stages.
The total number of new cancer cases in India in 2020 will be 13, 92, 179, and projected to reach 15, 69,793 in the year 2025. Overall, North East India showed the highest cancer incidence rates in both genders across the country. Specifically, in men,
Aizawl district reported 270 cancer cases per one lakh population, followed by East Khasi Hills district and Kamrup Urban which reported 228 and 213 cancer cases per one lakh population, respectively. Among women, Papumpare district in Arunachal Pradesh reported 220 cancer cases per one lakh population. Kamrup urban district reported 170 cancer cases per one lakh population among women. Also, the highest tobacco-related cancers in the country were reported from North East India.
East Khasi Hills District of Meghalaya had the highest proportion of tobacco-related cancer, with 71% in men and 47% in women. In the state of Assam, every year around 32,949 people are affected with cancer, of which, 18,258 and 14,691 are men and women, respectively. This number is based upon the crude number of cancer patients registered in three Population-based Cancer Registries of Assam stationed at Guwahati, Dibrugarh, and Cachar Districts considering 60% of the population are from rural areas.
In India, Kamrup Urban district showed the highest annual increase in the incidence of cancer at 3.8%, whereas, Dibrugarh district showed a decline of 1.3% in the incidence of cancer among men. The proportion of tobacco-related cancers in Assam for men was 52% and around 22% for women.
The leading sites for cancer in Assam among men were esophagus, hypopharynx, lung, and mouth cancers. Among women, cancers of breast, gallbladder, uterine cervix, and esophagus were commonly seen in the state of Assam.