NEW DELHI: India reported more than 14 lakh new cancer cases and over 9 lakh deaths due to the disease in 2022, according to the report of the International Agency for Research on Cancer, the cancer arm of World Health Organisation (WHO).
According to the report, breast and cervix cancers were the most frequent ones among Indian women, making up close to 27 and 18 per cent of the new cases respectively.
Among men, cancers of lip, oral cavity and lungs were the most common ones, accounting for 15.6, 8.5 and 12.4 per cent of the new cases.
It also calculated that the number of people alive within five years after a cancer diagnosis was about 32.6 lakh in India. The report said that while there were 14,13,316 cancer cases, there were 9,16,827 deaths.
WHO predicted over 35 million new cancer cases in 2050, a 77 per cent increase from the estimated 20 million cases in 2022, and that deaths will have nearly doubled since 2012 to more than 18 million.
The IARC said tobacco use, alcohol consumption, and obesity were key factors behind the increasing incidence of cancer, as well as population ageing and growth.
In India, the risk of developing cancer before turning 75 was calculated to be 10.6 per cent, while the risk of dying from cancer by the same age was found to be 7.2 per cent. Globally, these risks were 20 per cent and 9.6 per cent, respectively.
Globally, the WHO estimated 2 crore new cancer cases and 97 lakh deaths, and about 5.3 crore people were alive within five years after a cancer diagnosis. About one in five people develop cancer in their lifetime, and roughly one in nine men and one in 12 women die from the disease, it said.
A majority of countries do not adequately finance priority cancer and palliative (pain-related) care services, as part of universal health coverage, the WHO said, publishing survey results from 115 countries.
The IARC report showed that 10 types of cancer collectively comprised around two-thirds of new cases and deaths globally in 2022.
The analysis found lung cancer to be the most commonly occurring cancer (12.4 per cent of total new cases) and also the leading cause of cancer death, accounting for almost 19 per cent of the total cancer deaths.