Prostate, ovarian cancer cases have increased in Bengaluru: ICMR

The prostate cancer and ovarian cancer cases have increased sharply in Bengaluru in the last two decades, according to ICMR’s latest national cancer registry programme released on Tuesday.

In addition, Bengaluru is among the sites where tobacco-related cancers among females are quite high. It also figures among the top seven sites for cancers among boys and girls (0-14 years of age). For boys, the prevalence is 114.2 per million whereas for girls it is 82.7.

These are some of the data from the Indian Council of Medical Research’s latest report of the National Cancer Registry Programme that compiled data from 28 population-based and 58 hospital-based cancer registries for the first time.

The report shows lung and stomach cancers for male and breast and cervical cancers for women are currently the two most common types of cancers found among those residing in Bengaluru.

But a comparison between the 1982-91 data with that of 2005-2014 showed how the disease pattern changed in the last two decades.

For instance, earlier there were not too many prostate cancers (7th spot in 1982-91) but it moved up to the third spot in the 2004-2015 category. Also two decades ago, there was no liver cancer among the top ten for men, but it occupies the sixth slot now.

Earlier throat cancer (hypopharynx and larynx) among males was common, but it is no longer among the top ten causes now.

Similarly, the incidence of ovarian cancer rose sharply to become the third common cause of cancer among females, moving up from the sixth slot two decades ago.

The ICMR report estimates that in 2020 India will record 13.9 lakh cancer cases, which will increase to 15.7 lakhs by 2025, based on current trends - an increase of 12%. In 2020, tobacco-related cancers are estimated to contribute 3.7 lakhs (27 %) of the total cancer burden.

The northeast remains India’s cancer capital with the highest incidence of 269.4 cancers per 100,000 male population in the Aizawl district of Mizoram. Among the females, the highest cancer incidence has been reported in Papum Pare district of Arunachal Pradesh (219.8). The lowest incidences are from Beed and Osmanabad districts of Maharashtra.

While most of the registries reported a declining trend in the cancer of the cervix, there is a significant increase in the incidence rates of breast cancers in women, and lung and head and neck cancers in both men and women. Cancers related to the use of any form of tobacco were highest in the North-eastern region of the country and in higher proportions in men.