Breast cancer tops among women, lung cancer among men in Chandigarh: NCD registry report
The report, which analysed data from July 2018 to December 2021, found that 36% of all women cancer patients in Chandigarh were diagnosed with breast cancer followed by ovarian (7.4%) and cervix (6.6%) cancers. Among men, lung cancer accounted for 14.7% of all cases, followed by prostate (14%) and urinary bladder (6.7%) cancers.
Breast cancer remains the most common cancer among women in Chandigarh, while lung cancer leads among men, according to the second report of the Chandigarh Non-Communicable Disease (NCD) Registry, released at the Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) on Saturday.
The report, which analysed data from July 2018 to December 2021, found that 36% of all women cancer patients in Chandigarh were diagnosed with breast cancer followed by ovarian (7.4%) and cervix (6.6%) cancers. Among men, lung cancer accounted for 14.7% of all cases, followed by prostate (14%) and urinary bladder (6.7%) cancers.
Countrywide too, breast cancer is the most prevalent among women (27%), as per the Ministry of health and family welfare data.
Chandigarh reports 100 cancer cases a year
On an average, Chandigarh reports 1,000 cancer cases a year, the NCD report further revealed. The city’s female cancer incidence rate (98.7 per 1 lakh) is slightly lower than the national average (105.4 per 1 lakh), while the male incidence rate (97.3 per 1 lakh) is higher than the national average (95.6 per 1 lakh). Mortality rates are 50 per 1 lakh for men and 46 per 1 lakh for women, both below national averages, as per the report.
46-60 age group most affected
In all, the registry collected and analysed the data of five NCDs (see box) and found that the majority of the cases occurred in the 46-69 age group for both sexes. The data was collected from 40 institutes, including government and private hospitals, laboratories and birth and death registrar offices.
Dr JS Thakur, professor, department of community medicine and school of public health, PGIMER, and World NCD Federation president, said that cancer cases are on the rise both in Chandigarh and across the country. Dr Thakur, who is the principal investigator of Chandigarh NCD registry, said that earlier, cervix cancer was the most prevalent among but now, breast cancer is at the top.
Dr Rakesh Kapoor, professor and head of clinical haematology and medical oncology, PGIMER, and co-investigator of Chandigarh NCD registry, said that a worrying trend has been noticed where more younger people are falling prey to breast cancer and the reason is unclear. Citing a study, Dr Kapoor said that late marriage, non-pregnancy and family history are some of the contributory factors to breast cancer.
Among men, the key risk factors for lung cancer are smoking, air pollution, occupational exposure, etc. For oral cancer, it is tobacco chewing, smoking, poor oral hygiene, etc, while for prostate cancer, multiple factors including age, family history, genetic alterations, diet, obesity, inflammation of the prostate can be attributed.
On what could be the possible causes for rising cases in Chandigarh, Dr Rahul D Modi, co-director, gynaecological oncology, Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, New Delhi, said, “There are multiple reasons but obesity is one of the biggest risk factors for breast cancer and many other cancers.” He added that with growing awareness among people, the detection rate is also rising. Dr Modi further said that it has been seen that in developed regions, women are more prone to breast and uterine cancer than cervical cancer.
