1 million new cancer cases being diagnosed in India each year: Study

1 million new cancer cases being diagnosed in India each year

Latest estimates announced on Friday have revealed some worrying findings about the growing burden of cancer in India.

The latest figures published in the British medical journal The Lancet show that around one million new cancer cases are being diagnosed in India each year, projected to nearly double to 1.7 million new cases in 2035.

Around 700,000 people are dying from cancer in India annually, projected to rise to around 1.2 million deaths in 2035.

Fewer than 30% of cancer patients in India survive for more than five years after their diagnosis.

Around 40% of all cancers in India are attributable to tobacco.

Breast cancer is the most common cause of cancer deaths overall, and the most frequently diagnosed cancer in women, accounting for more than 1 in 5 of all deaths from cancer in women.

More than three quarters of cancer expenditures in India come directly out of patients' pockets, leading to catastrophic health expenditures with a cancer diagnosis.

Most (92%) patients from rural households in India first present with cancer to private practitioners, over three quarters (79%) of whom have no medical qualifications.

China, India, and Russia have found to together experience 46% of all new cancers worldwide and account for more than half (52%) of all cancer deaths globally.

Political leaders have now been urged to act on the "devastating" economic and human costs of cancer in India by a Commission examining the challenges facing effective cancer control in China, India, and Russia led by Professor Paul Goss of Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center in collaboration with over 40 leading cancer experts from the regions studied, and across the world.

Professor Mohandas Mallath of the Tata Medical Centre, Kolkata, lead author of the paper on the growing burden of cancer in India said "The need for political commitment and action is at the heart of the solution to India's growing cancer burden. The extent to which death and illness from cancer will actually increase in the next 20 years will depend a lot on the investments made in future decades in tobacco control, healthcare delivery, cancer research, clinical trials, and increasing the public awareness as to how we can all help to reduce the risk of cancer by eliminating risky behaviours such as smoking, vaccinating those at risk of cancer causing infections and following a healthy diet and lifestyle."

Experts say one of the reasons for the excessive burden of deaths from cancer in India is the existence of huge gaps between the demand and supply for cancer care: 95 % of the medical colleges in India do not have comprehensive cancer care services comprising of surgical, medical and radiation oncology departments in the same campus.

Currently there are around 2000 medical and radiation oncologists in India - one per 5000 newly diagnosed cancer patients - and in almost all remote or rural areas even the most basic cancer treatment facilities are non-existent.

As a result, urban cancer centres are overcrowded and under-resourced, leading to long waiting times, delayed diagnoses and treatment that comes too late for many patients.

Moreover, very low levels of public funding for healthcare in India mean that more than three quarters of cancer costs are paid out of pocket directly by the patient or care givers. There is also a big regional imbalance in cancer care facilities and numerous patients from northern, central and eastern regions of India have to travel very long distances to the south or western regions along with their care givers and live under very harsh conditions for many months, adding to the high mortality and financial bankruptcy.

"Most district hospitals and even regional cancer centres do not have the facilities needed to provide quality cancer care to the people who need them," says professor C S Pramesh of the Tata Memorial Centre, Mumbai, lead author of the paper on delivery of affordable and equitable cancer care in India. "Because of the extremely low level of government and state funding for healthcare in India, a cancer diagnosis is increasingly responsible for catastrophic expenditures from the patients' own pockets, which has the potential to negatively affect not only the individual with cancer, but also the welfare and education of several generations of their family. Delivering affordable and equitable care for cancer is one of India's greatest public health challenges - but it is a challenge we must rise to if we are to mitigate the devastating economic and human costs that this disease is already exerting on our nation."

Improving cancer outcomes in India will not only depend on addressing shortfalls in the medicines and treatment facilities available to patients, but will also need far more concerted efforts towards preventing people from getting cancer in the first place.