
CHENNAI: Chennai Population-Based Childhood Cancer Registry (PBCCR), the first high-resolution dataset in India exclusively for paediatric cancer, launched by the Cancer Institute at Adyar on Friday showed that 59.3% of patients in the Greater Chennai Corporation were alive after two years while 16.5% had died.
The report also revealed that the median time from onset of symptoms to diagnosis of cancer was 12.5 days while the median time from diagnosis to the start of treatment was just two days in Chennai.
The registry was established in October 2022. The Cancer Institute also maintains the Madras Metropolitan Tumour Registry (MMTR), a general population registry, that has been collecting data since 1981.
According to the PBCCR, in 2022, 241 paediatric cases were recorded in Chennai, which included 139 boys and 102 girls. Of these, 170 cases were analysed by the PBCCR to capture high-resolution data.
‘Cancer screening to start soon across TN’
Dr R Swaminathan, the head of the Department of Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Cancer Registry, said the dedicated population-based cancer registry for childhood cancer captures more granular data, including detailed information on socio-economic and demographic background of patients and of treatment taken.
While basic data is collected for all age groups by the MMTR, he said the Chennai PBCCR collects additional data for children aged 0-19 years. The Cancer Institute will extend this registry to all districts in TN, he added.
The report released by Health Minister Ma Subramanian on Friday showed that the age standardised incidence rate for paediatric cancer in Chennai is 136.3 per million population, among the highest compared to other Indian cities. The comparison was done based on the registries available in other cities that capture basic data for all age groups.
The most common cancers, according to the age standardised rate of per million population, are leukemia (61.9), lymphoma and related (21.7), soft tissue sarcoma (9.7), germ cell tumors (7.6), malignant bone tumour (7.1) and central nervous system (CNS) & neoplasms (7.0). At the two-year follow-up for all cases, 143 out of 241 (59.3%) were alive, 40 (16.5%) were deceased, and the status of 58 patients (24%) was unknown as no details were available for follow-up, the report said.
Subramanian said cancer screening in all revenue districts across TN will soon be started at a cost of `27 crore. On a pilot basis, cancer screening was started in Erode, Tirupathur, Ranipet and Krishnagiri districts. Over 12.12 lakh people were screened and 133 new cases were detected.
CIR highest in Tiruvottiyur zone
Crude Incidence rate (CIR 260.2) was highest in Tiruvottiyur zone in the Greater Chennai Corporation. The CIR refers to the number of cases occurring in a specified population in a year. Ambattur zone is second with CIR 231.3 followed by Adyar with CIR 197.5.
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The Institute of Child Health and Hospital for Children, Egmore had the highest contribution to the registry, accounting for 104 (43%) out of 241 cases in 2022.
The data was collected from private and government hospitals in Chennai.
The age-specific rate (ASpR) was the highest (197.8) at 0-4 years of age among boys, while it was the highest (192.4) at 10-14 years of age among girls per million population. ASpR refers to new cases diagnosed in a particular year in the given age group divided by estimated mid-year population of the age group in that year.