BENGALURU: Ahead of World No Tobacco Day on May 31, cancer specialists warned about the growing and under reported burden of tobacco-related cancers in India and stated that tobacco is linked to nearly 30 different forms of cancer, increasingly emerging among younger Indians.
While lung cancer remains the most recognized consequence of tobacco use, leading oncologists and public health experts warn that India is witnessing a dangerous rise in several lesser-known but equally deadly tobacco-related cancers, including cancers of the esophagus, stomach, pancreas, kidney, bladder and liver.
Global cancer research shows that tobacco contributes to nearly one-third of all cancer deaths worldwide and remains one of the largest preventable causes of cancer. India continues to have one of the world’s highest burdens of tobacco use, particularly smokeless tobacco consumption like chewing tobacco, snuff, or khaini, which significantly increases risks of oral and head & neck cancers.
Doctors highlighted that after lung cancer, head and neck cancers are now among the most common tobacco-related cancers in India, driven by both smoking and smokeless tobacco consumption with an increase of aggressive cancers among very young tobacco users.
Dr Radheshyam Naik, founder, medical director and head of medical oncology, Haematology & Bone Marrow Transplantation Unit at Sammprada Hospital, said that “Tobacco is not just about lung cancer anymore.
We are witnessing a growing burden of esophageal, pancreatic, bladder, stomach and liver cancers linked directly to tobacco exposure. Many of these cancers are diagnosed late and are extremely aggressive. What is particularly worrying is that patients are now presenting at younger ages because tobacco exposure is beginning earlier in life.”
Dr K Prabhakara Rao, tobacco control expert, emphasised on there being “no safe level of tobacco exposure.” He said, “The risk depends on how early tobacco use begins, how long a person uses it and the intensity of exposure. The earlier young people start smoking or chewing tobacco, the greater the lifetime cancer risk.”
Experts called for stronger public awareness campaigns focused not only on lung cancer but on the broader spectrum of tobacco-linked diseases and the need for early screening, stronger tobacco control measures and targeted interventions among youth.
