IndiaPost.com - Lung cancer gains epidemic proportions in India

NEW DELHI: Lung cancer is gaining epidemic proportions in India, according to Indian Society of Medical & Pediatric Oncology (ISMPO). In a press realize, ISMPO said that 'Survival after lung cancer had doubled over the last several years for lung cancer; this also improves their quality of life.

But the increased prevalence of smoking in India is resulting in many more Indians now developing the disease'. More than 50,000 new lung cancer cases are diagnosed every year, about 80 percent of them at an advanced stage mostly among the middle-aged and elderly.

It has become the number one cancer among men at six (New Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Bhopal and Ahmedabad) of the 12 population-based cancer registries in India. The primary cause of lung cancer in up to 90 percent of patients is tobacco.

The life of smokers is reduced by as much as 15 percent. Cessation of smoking is the most effective, achievable and least expensive intervention for reducing the risk of lung cancer. Even better would be to prevent the habit of tobacco use.

This habit occurs in more than three fourths of users within the age of 10 to 15 years. Hence we must focus activities in middle school. Drastic measures aimed at discouraging people from using tobacco must be taken to reduce the occurrence, morbidity and mortality due to lung cancer. Early diagnosis can translate into better treatment outcomes.

This can only come through better awareness and understanding of this disease. We are willing to strengthen the hands of our Honorable Health Minister to do this. Globally, lung cancer is now the leading cause of cancer deaths in developed countries and is also rising at alarming rates in developing countries.

In addition to smoking, occupational exposure to carcinogens, indoor air pollution and dietary factors have recently been implicated in the causation of lung cancer. Deaths due to lung cancer are more than those due to colorectal, breast and prostate cancers put together.

Link between smoking and lung cancer is well established. Lung Cancer is the second most common cancer and the leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the US.

A study by the National Cancer Institute in December 2005, showed high rates of lung cancer in smokers (6.3 per 1,000) and in former smokers who had smoked within the past 15 years (4.9 per 1,000 screens).

In contrast, lung cancer detection among never smokers was 0.4 per 1,000 screens. It has also been shown that survival rates improve when cancer is treated in its early stages. Unfortunately, the majority of patients have locally advanced or disseminated disease when the first diagnosis is done and are not candidates for surgery.

Chemotherapy with radiation improves survival and the quality of life. New anti-cancer drugs, which have emerged during the last decade, have also shown an improved efficacy-toxicity ratio. What is also worrying us is that the incidence and mortality from lung cancer in women is rising,.

Epidemiologic evidence shows that non-smoking spouses married to cigarette-smokers are about 30 percent more likely to develop lung cancer than non-smoking spouses married to non-smokers. About 85% to 90% of all lung cancers are Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC) as opposed to Small Cell Lung Carcinoma (SCLC).

The vast majority of NSCLC patients come with disease that is beyond the scope of surgical cure and are, therefore, candidates for palliative therapy (chemotherapy and or radiation therapy), which has been the subject of intensive investigation in recent years.