TIRUPATI: Tirupati has witnessed a 175 per cent surge in new cancer patient registrations over the past three years, with cases rising from 2,556 in late 2022 to more than 7,000 by the end of 2025. Confirmed diagnoses have more than doubled in the same period, reaching 3,413, with nearly 11,000 cases recorded since mid-2022.
Doctors attribute much of the increase to widespread consumption of gutkha and smokeless tobacco, a habit deeply ingrained in local communities. Early warning signs such as painless white patches in the mouth are often ignored until symptoms worsen, leaving many patients at advanced stages of disease.
On World Tobacco Day, speaking to TNIE, Dr Prasanth, Medical Director of SVICCAR, a unit of the Tata Cancer Care Foundation, said the rise in registrations reflects both the growing burden of cancer and increased awareness. “Our mission is to provide world-class, evidence-based cancer care right here, so patients do not have to travel to distant cities,” he said, noting that SVICCAR’s outreach programmes are taking screening to the grassroots and training local doctors in early detection.
He added that access to advanced facilities in Tirupati has transformed treatment, with complex head and neck cancer surgeries increasing from just 33 in 2022-23 to 697 in 2025-26. SVICCAR has launched a Tobacco Cessation Clinic and runs 20 outreach programmes with regular awareness sessions.
Since 2020, its teams have screened more than 143,000 people for oral, breast, and cervical cancers. Targeted drives are being conducted with auto-rickshaw unions and schools to protect vulnerable groups, while ventilation workshops and community sensitisation programmes aim to reduce risks further.
Dr Prasanth said the institute is building a complete ecosystem of care focused on both prevention and healing, ensuring families no longer need to travel to metro cities for treatment.
