‘85% cancer patients come for treatment in advanced stage’

LUCKNOW : About 85% cancer patients come for treatment in advanced stage and one-third of them become dropouts, said Dr Gaurav Gupta of Dr Ram Manohar Lohia Institute of Medical Sciences (RMLIMS).

“There are different reasons for patients becoming dropouts, a major one being accessibility. As treatment facilities are centralised around the state capital, coming here from any other district makes one lose day’s earning apart from treatment expense,” said assistant the professor in the medical oncology department addressing a press conference on Thursday.

He said there was a growing incidence of such cases due to lifestyle changes.

“Breast cancer cases are on top of the list while cervical cancer is on second position. There has been a fall in cases of oral cancer but the issue of early diagnosis is what makes treatment difficult,” said Dr Gupta.

Globally, lung cancer has become the most commonly diagnosed cancer, with the most number of related deaths. In

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2018, India reported 67,795 new incidences of lung cancer.

“In the past few years, there has been an increase in lung cancer cases in India. I have also observed a spurt in the number of lung cancer cases in Lucknow, wherein there has been a higher increase in the incidence in females. Smoking tobacco and exposure to cancer causing agents such as asbestos, radon, air pollution and diesel exhaust also play a role in causing lung cancer,” said Gupta.

As of 2018, lung cancer is the third leading cause of cancer deaths, amounting to almost 9% of the total cancer deaths in the country.

In developing countries, lung cancer is most common amongst men, and third most common amongst women.