NEW DELHI: Cancer is one of the three top causes of death in the country and in the Capital it’s lung cancer among men and breast cancer in women that claims the highest casualty, according to the latest report released by Delhi Cancer Registry titled “Cancer Incidence and Mortality in Delhi”.
The report warns about an increase in incidence of breast cancer among women and prostrate cancer in men in the city. The good news, however, is that there has been a reduction in the number of cervical cancers in women and head and neck cancer in men.
In an effort to understand the trend, Delhi Cancer Registry keeps and reviews cancer data collected from 160 major Government hospitals and institutions, more than 250 private hospitals and nursing homes and cancer figures from the Department of Vital Statistics of the Delhi Municipal Corporation and Cantonment Board among others.
In Delhi, men reported with the largest number of lung cancer followed by cancer of the larynx, prostrate and tongue, while in women it was breast cancer followed by cancer of the cervix, ovary, gall bladder.
According to the data, the number of cancer cases registered in 2003 was 10,647 and of this 51.2 per cent were men and 48.7 per cent were women. The percentage of new cases was more in the age group of 35 to 64 years compared with other age groups during 2002 in both sexes.
In children (0 to 14 years) cancer cases were more in boys (6.3 per cent) compared with girls (3 per cent). Similarly in the older age group (above 65-year-old) cancer cases were more in males.
The Registry also noted that among the tobacco-related cancer sites, cancer of the lung was most common followed by cancer of larynx and urinary bladder. In women, cancer of the oesophagus was the leading site associated with tobacco related cancer followed by lungs.
“In Delhi, cases of lung cancer were the highest in men and breast cancer in women. In northern India most patients report to us only when they are in the third or fourth stage where the success rate of treatment is very low. While nearly 80 per cent cancer cases are reported in the third or fourth stage, only 20 per cent come to the hospital when in the first and second stage where the chances of successful treatment is high,” said G. K. Rath, Head of Department of Oncology of Rotary Cancer Hospital at All-India Institute of Medical Sciences.
