THE FUTURE OF CANCER IN INDIA
India’s epidemiologic transition was triggered by large reductions in premature deaths from infections and associated diseases and increased life expectancy. an increase in cancer and other non-communicable diseases are experienced by all Indian states.[16] Due to a lack of adequate and easily accessible cancer care facilities, in the least developed and rural parts of India, Cancer diagnoses are still missed. In 1993, an autopsy study from India’s premier postgraduate medical institute revealed that 25.8% of cancers were incorrectly diagnosed.[17]
There are still chances of error in Indian urban cancer registries in terms of data quality.[18] The 2018 quality report from Cancer Incidence in Five Continents indicates that 23% of cancers in rural Assam were unclassifiable.[19] The increasing availability of minimally invasive diagnostic technologies, including image-guided needle aspiration cytology and immunohistochemistry, will further increase cancer diagnosis in India.[20] The introduction of computed tomography scanning in Mumbai in the mid-1980s was immediately followed by an increase in the incidence of brain tumors, which stabilized later.[21]
The reduction of cardiovascular disease mortality is correlated with increased cancer mortality in many developed countries.[22] Further reduction in cardiovascular disease mortality, which is presently three times higher than cancer in India, will increase the cancer burden further. Cancer screening, which is being considered by the GOI, is known to increase incidence while reducing mortality.[23]