Cancer cases may rise to 1.57 mn from 1.39 mn in next 5 years: ICMR report

The number of cancer cases in India is estimated to be 1.39 million this year and may increase to 1.57 million by 2025, according to a report released by the ICMR and the Bengaluru-based National Centre for Disease Informatics and Research.

The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) said the estimates presented in the National Cancer Registry Programme Report, 2020, are based on information collected from 28 Population Based Cancer Registries.

Additionally, 58 hospital-based cancer registries provided data, it said.

According to the statement, tobacco-related cancer is estimated to contribute 370,000 cases which is 27.1 per cent of the total cancer burden in 2020.

"Among women, breast cancer is estimated to contribute 200,000 (14.8 per cent) and cervix cancer is estimated to contribute 0.75 lakh (5.4 per cent), whereas for both men and women, cancers of the gastrointestinal tract is estimated to contribute 270,000 (19.7 per cent) of the total cancer burden," it said.

Cancer incidence rate among males per 100,000 population ranges from 269.4 in Aizawl district, which is the highest in India, to 39.5 in Osmanabad and Beed districts.

As for females, cancer incidence rate per 100,000 population ranges from 219.8 in Papumpare district to 49.4 in Osmanabad and Beed district, the statement said.

Incidence of cancer related to use of any form of tobacco was the highest in the northeastern region of the country and in higher proportion in men. Cancer of lung, mouth, stomach and oesophagus were the most common cancers among men, it highlighted.

Cancer of breast and cervix uteri were the most common cancers among women. Cancer of lung was diagnosed at a stage of spread to distant sites, while cancers of head and neck, stomach, breast and cervix were in higher proportions with loco-regional spread, the statement said.

Multimodality treatment -- a varied combination of surgery, chemotherapy and radiation therapy -- was administered for cancers of breast, and head and neck, while cancer of cervix was treated mainly with radiotherapy and chemotherapy.

For cancers of the lung and the stomach, systemic therapy was the mode of treatment, according to the ICMR statement.