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]