Table 1: Distribution of cases according to the site of cancer

the oral cavity cancer is the commonest cancer in male and the cervical cancer in female here at Chhattisgarh state of Central India. Our findings are more or less similar to the National cancer data as per GLOBOCAN 2018 report apart from breast cancer which is the commonest cancer in Indian females while our study reported cervical cancer as the most common cancer among females in Chhattisgarh. Looking at the Nationwide Cancer burden, it’s rising very fast and most of the common cancers amongst males and females are avoidable through the vigorous implementation of the framework convention on tobacco control, screening and vaccination programs to prevent infection-related cancers, such as cervical cancer (human papillomavirus). Public health initiatives directed at improving nutrition, health education and prevention of obesity would help in controlling the lifestyle-associated cancers. The continuing improvement of cancer outcomes will require changed priorities and more emphasis on improvement of cancer research in India.

1. India State-Level Disease Burden Initiative Cancer Collaborators. The burden of cancers and their variations across the states of India: the Global Burden of Disease Study 1990–2016. Lancet Oncol. 2018; 19: 1291-308.

2. World Health Organization. Global Health Observatory. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2018.

3. Sivaram S, Majumdar G, Perin D, et al. Population-based cancer screening programmes in low-income and middle-income countries: regional consultation of the International Cancer Screening Network in India. Lancet Oncol. 2018; 19: e113-22.

4. India State-Level Disease Burden Initiative Collaborators. Nations within a nation: variations in epidemiological transition across the states of India, 1990–2016 in the Global Burden of Disease Study. Lancet. 2017; 390: 2437-60.

The national program aims to tackle cancer by addressing preventable common risk factors through community-level, cost-effective screening for high-burden cancers, which include clinical breast examination for breast cancer, visual inspection for cervical cancer and visual examination for oral cancers. [18] However, there are many challenges with these efforts, including difficulties acquiring trained human resources, follow-up of positive tests, timely diagnosis, and well-tracked referral pathways. [19] Additionally, there are limited population-level screening modalities available for some of the cancers responsible for the highest cancer burden in India, such as stomach and lung cancers. Ideally, national and state-level efforts should coordinate to facilitate the development of a prevention-to-palliation system of upward referral for early confirmatory diagnosis and prompt treatment of cancers, and downward referral for adequate follow-up, including palliative care and pain relief.

It’s a tertiary cancer centre based study, in which we have identified

5. Indian Council of Medical Research. Three-year report of population based cancer registries 2012–2014: incidence, distribution, trends in incidence rates and projections of burden of cancer. Bengaluru: National Centre for Disease Informatics and Research, ICMR, 2016.

6. Indian Council of Medical Research, Public Health Foundation of India, Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation. India: Health of the Nation’s States—The Indian State-Level Disease Burden Initiative. New Delhi: ICMR, PHFI and IHME, 2017.

7. Ashish Kumar Sinha et al. Epidemiological Trend of Cancer among Patients at Regional Cancer Center, Dr. B. R. Ambedkar Memorial Hospital, Raipur: A Tertiary Care Hospital of Central India; International Journal of Health Sciences & Research. 2018; 8(2).

8. Ferlay J, Ervik M, Lam F, Colombet M, Mery L, Piñeros M, et al. Global Cancer Observatory: Cancer Today. Lyon, France: International Agency for Research on Cancer. 2018.

9. Mallath MK, Taylor G, Badwe RA, Rath GK, Shanta V, Pramesh CS, et al. The growing burden of cancer in India: epidemiology and social context. Lancet Oncol. 2014; 15(6): e205-12.