New Delhi: Even as the country struggles to cope with the raging COVID-19 pandemic, a report by two disease research institutions under the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has projected that nearly 14 lakh new cancer cases will be diagnosed in India this year.
About 11.57 lakh cancer patients were detected in 2018 — the latest year for which the actual number of incidences is available. The projected number of 13,92,179 cases in 2020 marks a rise of over 16 per cent in the growth of the disease within two years.
The report, based on actual cancer mapping and trends between 2012-16, also says that the maximum number of cancer patients will develop the disease in breast, lung, mouth, cervix and tongue, reports The New Indian Express.
The study does not take into account the COVID-19 pandemic. Many experts feel detection of diseases like cancer will worsen in the current situation.
The projection points to a higher incidence of cancer among females (712,758) than males (6,79,421).
The report further says that one in 68 males (lung cancer), 1 in 29 females (breast cancer) and 1 in 9 Indians will develop cancer during their lifetime between 0-74 years of age.
Mizoram capital Aizawl, with 269.4 cases per lakh, and Papumpare in Arunachal Pradesh (219.8 cases per lakh) will continue to have the highest age-adjusted incidence of cancer in India.
Among women, cancer of the breast and cervix were the most common.
