India Fighting Cancer Better Than the US: Renowned Oncologist

The incidence of cancer in India was coming down while it was on the rise in the United States and Europe, says a renowned surgical oncologist. A renowned surgical oncologist and director of Mumbai’s Tata Memorial Hospital Rajendra A. Badwe said that the incidence of cancer in India was coming down while it was on the rise in the United States and Europe.

Delivering a talk at the Apollo Cancer Conclave, he noted that India had 100 cancer patients for every one lakh population, while US has 350. Also, there were 40-50 breast cancer cases among a lakh Indians, while the figure in the US was close to 120.

Rural India does even better, with only 50 instances of cancer for every lakh population, the cancer specialist said. “We can bring down the incidence of cancer in India by two-thirds if we take three major steps: privacy of bathrooms to ensure personal hygiene, restrictions on the use of tobacco and controlling obesity,” Dr Badwe said.

While delivering a lecture on cancer genetics, Dr. Rajiv Sarin of the Tata Memorial Centre said the risk of hereditary cancers was in the range of five percent for cancer of the breast, 10 percent for that of the ovary, 20 percent for colorectal and 20 percent for childhood cancers.

Those with a defective BRCA1 gene had 30 percent chance of developing ovarian cancer in their lifetime and 75 percent chances of developing breast cancer.

Dr. Sarin said, “Such high-risk patients have to be put on a monthly breast self-examination programme, annual mammography screening and other options like removing ovaries, which fully wipes the risk of ovarian cancer and reduces breast cancer risk by 50 percent.”

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Source-Medindia