Every 8th male, 7th female at risk of cancer in city: Survey

Mohit Khanna

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, November 3

One in eight males and one in seven females in the city are at the risk of developing cancer, states the second annual population-based cancer registry released at the Post-Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) here today.

The survey report was jointly released by a team of researchers from the PGIMER, Tata Memorial Centre, Mumbai, the Department of Health and Family Welfare, Punjab, and Director of Health Services, Chandigarh.

The figures have not gone down well with UT Heath Secretary Anurag Aggarwal, who was among the guests invited at the function for the release of the report.

He expressed surprise over the high cancer rate in Chandigarh. “The city is known for its medical tourism and patients from Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and Bihar come here for treatment. Did the survey team compile the data (registering patients’ antecedents) of people who were undergoing treatment for cancer in Chandigarh.”

“How could these non-communicable disease (NCD) cases be high in Chandigarh where the air is much cleaner and infrastructure perfect for physical activity,” asked Aggarwal from the survey team.

Prof JS Thakur, principal investigator, said all the patients were from Chandigarh. He said as per the population-based report, the rate of males suffering from cancer in Chandigarh was much higher at 96.1 per 1 lakh against the national average of 92.4.

Similarly, the rate of city women suffering from cancer was 104.6 per 1 lakh against the national average of 97.4. At 34 per cent, breast cancer is the major cause of concern.

Majority of the cancer cases have been reported from Mani Majra and Sector 37, stated one of the researchers.

The mortality rate of cancer patients is 43.7 among men and 33.9 among women.

Prof Thakur said there was no need to panic as the percentage appears to be high owing to the city’s small population.

11.6% male patients have lung cancer

n Considered a smoke-free city, a fair number of male cancer patients in Chandigarh are suffering from lung cancers. The survey report showed 11.6 per cent of patients suffer from lung cancer while prostate cancer was the second biggest form of the disease

n Prof Rakesh Kapoor, who was part of the research team, said the survey was carried in the age group of 1 to 74 years. “Elderly people are more at the risk of prostate cancer,” he said