In India, breast cancer incidence is highest in Hyderabad, reveals study Premium

In India, breast cancer incidence is highest in Hyderabad, reveals study Premium

A Population-Based Cancer Registry (PBCR) Report (2014–2016), released by the Nizam’s Institute of Medical Sciences (NIMS) under the National Cancer Registry Programme (NCRP), has revealed alarming cancer trends in Hyderabad. The city recorded the highest breast cancer incidence rate in India, with an Age-Adjusted Rate (AAR) of 48 per lakh women.

Hyderabad surpassed other major metropolitan cities in terms of AAR, including Chennai (42.2), Bengaluru (40.5), Delhi (38.6), Mumbai (34.4), and Pune (30). In contrast, Meghalaya reported the lowest AAR at 7 per lakh women. The report is based on data from 28 Population-Based Cancer Registries (PBCRs) under the NCRP.

Between 2014 and 2016, Hyderabad recorded 11,596 new cancer cases, including 5,143 in men and 6,453 in women, according to the report. The Crude Incidence Rate (CIR) per lakh population per year was 84.2 for men and 109.8 for women, while the AAR stood at 101.6 and 136, respectively.

Compiled by the Department of Medical Oncology at NIMS in collaboration with the National Centre for Disease Informatics and Research (NCDIR), the NCRP and the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), the report highlights a steady rise in cancer cases. Breast cancer in women and mouth cancer in men were identified as the most common types.

The data was collected from 23 source hospitals in Hyderabad district where cancer is diagnosed and treated. Staff members personally visit the wards of the cooperating hospitals regularly to abstract confirmed cancer cases data into core form from available patient records, or by interviewing confirmed cancer patients and also those who are under cancer investigation, the report said.

Among men, mouth cancer was most common (13.3% of cases, 682 patients), followed by lung cancer (10.9%), tongue cancer (7.9%), stomach cancer (5.7%), and prostate cancer (4.7%). In contrast, women showed a higher proportion of breast cancer (35.5%, 2,291 cases), followed by cervical cancer (8.7%), ovarian cancer (6.9%), corpus uteri cancer (5.5%), and lung cancer (4.1%).

Paediatric cancers, particularly among children aged 0 to 14 years, constituted 2.44% of all cases, the highest proportion among PBCRs in southern India. The report also notes a high burden of tobacco-related cancers (TRCs), accounting for 42.21% of all male cancers and 13.51% of female cancers.

The report states that 92.23% of male and 90.72% of female cancer cases were confirmed through microscopic verification. Hyderabad reported the lowest Mortality-to-Incidence (M/I) ratio (11.6%) among all registries, with 758 cancer-related deaths in men and 582 in women during the study period. The mortality rate per lakh population was 30.9 for men and 20.2 for women.

“The report shows data from 2014 to 2016 but it took us five years after the study period to track each case and check on the mortality of those diagnosed with cancer,” said Sadashivudu Gundeti, principal investigator of PBCR, Department of Medical Oncology, NIMS.

Dr. Gundeti said mortality data for the period 2014 to 2016 was sourced from the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation death records. During this time, 758 cancer-related deaths were recorded in males and 582 in females. The data was cross-verified with registered cancer cases from the same period to ensure accuracy.

The annual Crude Mortality Rate per 100,000 population was 30.9 for males and 20.2 for females, while the AAR stood at 35.2 for males and 21.4 for females. The Truncated Mortality Rate, which focuses on the 35-64 age group, was 65.1 per 100,000 for males and 43.5 for females. The M/I ratio, indicating the proportion of cancer cases that resulted in death, was 35.4% for males and 27.7% for females.

“This report is considered as standard work of reference for describing incidence rates and patterns of cancer in the Hyderabad area. It serves as an important tool for a target-oriented approach for cancer control programmes. The information regarding the magnitude and pattern of cancer can be the basis of population-based epidemiological studies. I am sure that researchers, clinicians, health administration and epidemiologists would benefit from this report,” said NIMS director Bheerappa Nagari.