Cases of prostate cancer rising in rural India

Prostate cancer, the second most common cause of cancer and the sixth leading cause of cancer deaths among men worldwide, is rising in rural India, suggests data from cancer registries in the national capital.

The Registry at Safdarjung Hospital, where registered cases of patients in OPD exceeds one lakh every month, reveals that out of one lakh, 20 per cent are prostate cancer (PCa) patients, 40 per cent are clinically localised, 30 per cent are locally advanced and 30 per cent are metastatic prostate cancer.

“This disease has become a major health problem globally during the last few decades. Prostate cancer is the second most common cause of cancer and the sixth leading cause of cancer death among men worldwide. No doubt, the proportion has changed in the metro cities but there is still a limited access to rural areas in India. Most of the metastatic CA prostate cases are from rural areas. Therefore, it’s a challenge to government and doctors to decrease the risk factors and take causation of prostate cancer in the rural areas very seriously,” says Prof. P.N. Dogra, head of urology at AIIMS.

PCa is the second most common cause of cancer and the sixth leading cause of cancer death among men worldwide. In view of rising cases of PCa, especially in rural areas, experts strongly stresses on the need to upgrade more government hospitals and treatment, surgery available, drugs and the cost, i.e. `34 lakh, should be reduced to affordable levels.

The cancer projection data shows that the number of cases will become doubled by 2020. The figures from hospitals like Safdarjung and AIIMS also shows that prostate cancer is the second most frequently diagnosed cancer among men in Delhi.

“There is a need to upgrade more government hospitals and treatment, surgery available, drugs and the cost i.e. three to four lakh should be reduced to affordable levels,” said Prof. Anup Kumar, head of department, urology and renal transplant, Vardhman Mahavir Medical College (VMMC) and Safdarjung Hospital.

He added that with targeted prostate-specific antigen screening, better access to health care facilities and with advance technology like 3D laparoscopy and robotics, better cancer drugs, survival can be improved and quality of life is expected to be improved for the patients in rural areas.