National Cancer Registry Programme Report 2020

• 19 Aug 2020

Why in News

According to the recently released National Cancer Registry Programme Report 2020, cancer cases in India are likely to increase to 15.6 lakhs by 2025, a 12% increase from the current estimated cases.

• The report has been released by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and the National Centre for Disease Informatics and Research (NCDIR), Bengaluru.

Key Points

• Number of Cases: The number of cases are likely to touch 15.6 lakhs by 2025 from the current 13.9 lakhs in 2020.
• Major Cause: Tobacco-related cancers are estimated to contribute 27.1% of the total cancer burden.
• Regional Distribution: Cancers related to use of any form of tobacco were highest in the northeastern region of the country and in higher proportions in men.
• Gender Prevalence:
  
  • Among women, breast cancers are estimated to contribute 14.8% and cervical cancer (tumour of the cervix, the lowermost part of the uterus) are estimated to contribute 5.4%.
  • For both men and women, cancers of the gastrointestinal tract are estimated to contribute 19.7% of the total cancer burden.
  • Cancers of the lung, mouth, stomach and oesophagus (the muscular tube that runs from the throat to the stomach) are the most common cancers among men.
• Detection and Spread: Cancers of the lung were diagnosed at a stage of spread to distant sites, while cancers of head and neck, stomach, breast and cervix were in higher proportions with a locoregional (restricted to a localized region of the body) spread.
• Cancer Incidence Rate:
  
  • For the male population, it ranges from 269.4 (Aizawl, Mizoram) to 39.5 (Osmanabad and Beed, Maharashtra) per 1,00,000 population.
  • For the female population, it ranges from 219.8 (Papumpare, Arunachal Pradesh) to 49.4 (Osmanabad and Beed, Maharashtra) per 1,00,000 population.
  • A significant increase in the incidence rates of breast cancers in women and lung and head and neck cancers in both men and women was observed.
  • A declining trend was seen in most of the registries for cancer of the cervix.

Cancer

• Cancer is a generic term for a large group of diseases characterized by the growth of abnormal cells beyond their usual boundaries that can then invade adjoining parts of the body and/or spread to other organs.
• Other common terms used for cancer are malignant tumors and neoplasms.
• Cancer is one of the leading causes of death globally.
• World Cancer Day is organized by the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC) and celebrated each year on 4^th February.
  
  • 2020 theme: ‘I Am and I Will’, which acknowledges that everyone has the capacity to address the cancer burden.

Indian Council of Medical Research

• It is the apex body in India for the formulation, coordination and promotion of biomedical research.
• Mandate: To conduct, coordinate and implement medical research for the benefit of the society, translating medical innovations into products/processes and introducing them into the public health system.
• It is funded by the Government of India through the Department of Health Research, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

National Centre for Disease Informatics and Research

• It is one of its kind of unique institution which utilizes information science for health research as its integral component.
• Objective: To sustain and develop a national research data-base on cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular disease (CVD) and stroke through recent advances in electronic information technology with a national collaborative network.

Source: TH