The recent reports of the country’s leading medical research institution, ICMR suggests the the risk of Cancer will continue to grow in the coming years. That’s why it is important NOT to Ignore the early signs of the disease and the reason for cancer awareness.
The ICMR report is an eye opener to the unawareness cancer and the possible threat it has on mankind. [Kulothungan et al. BMC Cancer (2022) 22:527 https://doi.org/10.1186/
The report titled “Burden of cancers in India – estimates of cancer crude incidence, YLLs, YLDs and DALYs for 2021 and 2025 based on National Cancer Registry Program” published in the BMC Cancer journal talks about the cancer projection in India in the coming years.
The cancer burden in the country is likely to increase to 29.8 million in 2025
*the cancer burden varies within the regions of India posing great challenges in its prevention and control.
*The study is based on the data retrieved from the National Cancer Registry Program (NCRP) and other publicly available data sources.
The study found that the highest burden of cancer is likely to be in the north and northeastern regions of the country. Breast cancer in females, lung cancer and esophageal cancer in males contributed to the highest burden in northern and northeast regions, respectively, it said.
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Gender, who are at higher risk?
Men are at a higher risk of cancer than women.
The common sites of cancer in men are the lungs, mouth, oesophagus, stomach and liver. Overall lung cancer comprises 10.6% of the total cancer cases in the country followed by breast cancer, oesophagus, mouth and stomach.
What are leading cancer sites?
More than 40% of the total cancer burden is contributed by the seven sites.
lung (10.6%), breast (10.5%), esophagus (5.8%), mouth (5.7%), stomach (5.2%), liver (4.6%), and cervix uteri (4.3%), the study says.
Why the hype of cancer awareness?
That’s because of the importance of creating awareness around cancer especially in detecting it at an early stage.
“Cancer is treatable if detected early. Let’s join our hands together to create awareness for prevention of cancer,” PREVENTION IS BEST, EARLY DIAGNOSIS IS THE CURE”
Always keep a track of your health and consult an ONCOLOGIST the moment you see any change.
The Union Health Ministry advises to get screened periodically for common cancers if you are more than 30 years old.
Unhealthy lifestyle contributes immensely to cancer therefore changes to these can reduce the burden of cancer.
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- Cut down the consumption of tobacco
- Maintain a healthy body weight
- Have a healthy diet of seasonal fruits and vegetables and unprocessed foods
- Reduce alcohol consumption
- Avoid UV exposure
- Minimize occupational exposure to radiation
30-50% of cancers could be prevented, says the World Health Organisation (WHO)and adds that healthy lifestyle choices such as avoidance of tobacco and public health measures like immunization against cancer causing infections can help prevent the disease.
This article is written by Dr Garima Sarawgi, Eastern India’s first female McH surgical oncologist.
