New Delhi: The National Cancer Registry Programme Report 2020, released by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) Tuesday, estimates there will be 13.9 lakh cases of cancer in India in 2020, and that this number is likely to rise to 15.7 lakh by 2025.
The estimates are based on data retrieved from 28 Population-Based Cancer Registries (PBCRs) and 58 Hospital-Based Cancer Registries (HBCRs) from across India, between 2012 and 2016.
PBCRs measure the incidence rates of cancer for a defined population, while HBCRs provide data on the clinical presentation, diagnosis and care of cancer.
According to the data, tobacco-related cancers will account for 27.1 per cent of India’s cancer burden in 2020, followed by gastrointestinal cancer (19.7 per cent) and cancer of the cervix uteri (5.4 per cent).
The NCRP was set up by the ICMR in 1982 to “create evidence on the burden, pattern and distribution of cancer”, for survival and management of the disease.
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Highest incidence of cancer in Northeast
This year’s report finds that highest incidence of cancer in India was observed in the Northeastern region — one out of four persons between 0 and 74 years in Arunachal Pradesh’s Papumpare district had the possibility of developing cancer in their lifetime.
Aizawl district in Mizoram and Papumpare district in Arunachal Pradesh recorded the highest age adjusted rates (AAR) of cancer per 1 lakh population for all sites of cancer combined, at 269.4 and 219.8, respectively.
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Breast cancer incidence increasing
Cancers of the lung, mouth, stomach and oesophagus were the most common among men, while cancers of breast and cervix uteri were the most common among women, finds the report. It also says incidence of breast cancer is on the rise while cervical cancer is on the decline. The highest burden of breast cancer was observed in metropolitan cities such as Hyderabad, Chennai, Bengaluru and Delhi.
Delhi’s PBCR recorded the highest proportion of childhood cancers in both the 0-14 and 0-19 age groups, at 3.7 per cent and 4.9 per cent, respectively. Leukaemia was the most common diagnosis of cancer in both age groups and among both genders.
A total of 6,67,666 cases were registered by all 58 HBCRs, the highest number of which came from Tata Memorial Hospital in Mumbai (81,260 cases).
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