The latest report by Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has revealed that tobacco accounts for around a third (30 per cent) of all cancers in males and females in India. This nationwide cancer-tracking programme also reveals that there is a rise in cancers of the colon, prostate and rectum among men and cancers of the breast, lung, uterine endometrium and ovaries among women, pointing to some previously unobserved trends.

According to ICMR, India is likely to have over 14.5 lakh new cancer cases in 2016 and the figure is likely to reach nearly 17.3 lakh in 2020. The study also says that over 8.8 lakh deaths to be recorded due to the disease by 2020 with cancers of breast, lung and cervix topping the list.

The report said that among females, breast cancer topped the list and among males, mouth cancer. The incidence of breast cancer increased from 1.4 per cent to 2.8 per cent in several cities. Similarly, lung cancer, for which smoking is one of the triggers, is most common in 10 out of 27 cancer registries. “There is a rise in cases of lung cancer among females because more and more women are taking up smoking.”

The report, documenting cancer across 27 towns and cities across the country, has confirmed long-standing observations of the high incidence of cancers of the oesophagus, nasopharynx, tongue, and stomach in parts of the northeastern states.

The analysis has determined that tobacco-related cancers accounted for nearly 30 % of the estimated 13.8 lakh patients diagnosed with cancer in the country in 2015, while gastrointestinal cancers make up the second largest group, making up 19 % of the cancer burden.

“Such periodic cancer trends information is critical in guiding policies to allocate resources and plan preventive steps,” said Soumya Swaminathan, director general of the ICMR. “We hope to use such data to identify risk factors and plan appropriate interventions to prevent or reduce the cancer burden,” she said.

Parts of the Northeast have India’s highest incidence of cancers, but even there the numbers are much lower than the world’s highest incidence rates.

The analysis has found that only 13 in 100 patients in India are diagnosed with cancer in the earliest stages when it is curable. “This is sad because most cancers are easy to detect and most cancers are curable when detected early,” said G.K. Rath, chief of the cancer centre at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi.