TN has more women with cancer than men, finds study that covered 80mn

TN has more women with cancer than men, finds study that covered 80mn

Ram.Sundaram@timesgroup.com

Chennai:29.12.2020

More women are fighting cancer in the state than men, revealed a Tamil Nadu Cancer Registry Project (TNCRP) report jointly released by Cancer Institute and state health department on Monday.

The Crude Incidence Rate (CIR) of all cancers per 1,00,000 population was 93.9 among women compared to 74.4 in men, said TNCRP data, which covered the entire TN population of 80 million. This is the highest demographic evaluated by any cancer registry in the world.

A total of 65,590 cancer cases were diagnosed in 2016 in TN and estimated cancer burden in 2020 was 78,641. Of this, the highest CIR of cancers was observed in Chennai (140.8) and the least in Krishnagiri (48.5).

The incidence of breast cancer in women observed in Chennai (46.4 per 1,00,000 women) was the highest in the country.

Commenting on it, professor R Swaminathan from Cancer Institute, who co-authored the study with R Shanta, said more than genetic components that usually account for 5-10% of incidences, or diet, increase in breast cancer could be related to change in lifestyle.

“The mean age of marriage and age of first child birth is higher compared to what it was 30-35 years ago. Also, the number of pregnancies and breastfeeding have come down. These could be reasons but we definitely need more research studies,” he said.

After Chennai, Thanjavur has the second-highest CIR and this could be attributed to rampant use of chewing tobacco there, the study said.

The report also showed that in districts such as Erode, Ramanathapuram and Sivaganga, 50%-70% cancer patients travel to another district for treatment while the figure was 10% in Chennai and Coimbatore. “Such findings will help the government know where to place cancer treatment centres,” said Swaminathan.

Health minister C Vijayabaskar thanked Cancer Institute for providing such comprehensive data based on which the government can plan its treatment and disease prevention policies. The report was prepared by the institute without incurring any cost to the government.