Urban India: Breast Cancer nearly doubles in 24 years

Breast cancer cases are rising alarmingly all over the world and India is not an exception. This is more evident in urban India as suggested by the analysis of cancer cases in Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Bangalore by Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR). According to its report, the incidence of breast cancer has doubled in the metropolitan cities in the past 24 years.

This does not compare favourably with cervical cancer (the most common in Indian women), which is on its decline and has lowered by 50 percent in some cities. Dr. Rajni Mutneja, head of preventive oncology at Rajiv Gandhi Cancer Institute, Delhi said that 1 out of 20 women in Delhi suffer from breast cancer. Moreover, half the patients suffering from the condition come for treatment when it is in its last stage, making treatment much more difficult.

To judge how breast cancer fares with other forms of the disorder, a look at how its incidence compares with other forms of cancer should give us a fair idea. In Mumbai, 30 percent of the cancer cases in women, 26.9 percent in Delhi and Bangalore, while 26.5 percent in Chennai, 17.2 percent in Kolkata and 28.9 percent in Pune, were that of breast. The Director General of ICMR, Dr V M Katoch is looking at ways to improve the diagnostic capabilities of breast cancer as India by taking note of the anatomical websites cancer.

The government authorities are also sounding the alarm on this issue. According to an official working in health ministry, around 10 years ago, one out of one lakh women were detected with breast cancer, but now this figure has reached 23. In some cities such as Chennai, the statistics reveal a gruesome situation. 1 out of 33 women are afflicted with breast cancer in the city.

ICMR has also undertaken the task of evaluating breast cancer risk factors. It is based on the age-related risks. The findings reveal that 1 in 11 women and 1 in 8 women of Delhi are at the risk of developing breast cancer by the time they are 64 and 74 respectively.  The situation is more or less as glaring in other metropolitan cities of the country.

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