Every year, 78,381 cancer cases are diagnosed in Karnataka. Lungs (10.1%), stomach (6.7%), and prostate (6.4%) are the most common cancer locations in men, whereas breasts (27.9%), cervix (12%), and ovary (12%) are the most common cancer sites in women (6.4 percent).
Additionally, the government data reveals comorbidities that increase the risk of cancer. One in every four adults in the state has excessive blood pressure, and one in every seven has high blood sugar. Breast cancer will account for 27.9% of all cancers in women in 2020, the highest percentage of all malignancies.
According to Dr. Somashekhar S P, chief of surgical oncology at the Manipal Comprehensive Cancer Center, cancer rates in Bengaluru are rising by 0.8 percent every year.
“Cancer associated with the use of tobacco is reported to be 33.4 percent in males and 14.2 percent in females in Bengaluru. Breast cancer is rising rapidly by 3.1 percent every year in women here. When detected and treated in the early stages, patients have more treatment options and better survival rates compared with later stages. Breast-conserving surgery (lumpectomy), an SLNB (sentinel lymph node biopsy) to prevent lymphedema is one such option where only the part of the breast affected by the cancer is removed, without the need for complete breast removal surgery. Studies have shown lumpectomy and SLNB followed by chemotherapy or radiation therapy in early-stage breast cancer is associated with good survival rates, without compromising the quality of life of the patient.”
He further said, “Obesity, unhealthy diets, sedentary living, processed food, increasing use of oral contraceptive pills, and other variables all have led to an increase in not only breast cancer but other cancers as well. Women are aware that breast cancer can be detected by robust screening methods such as mammography which they routinely undergo annually. This probably leads to increased detection of breast cancer albeit at the earliest stages.”
Breast cancer was formerly assumed to mainly affect women over 45 who were in the perimenopausal and postmenopausal stages of their lives, according to Dr. Kamath, but it is now known that breast cancer can hit women in their 20s and 30s as well.
“Hereditary breast cancer can affect the younger generation as well. If a cancer causing gene is passed down to the children from the mother or the father carrying the mutated gene, there can be a significant increase in the risk of an individual developing breast cancer. Unfortunately, in such cases, breast cancer may strike women in their late teens and early 20s as well,” he says.
Dr. K Sudhakar, the state's health minister, announced a Cancer Awareness Week on the occasion of World Cancer Day.
“As per the World Health Ooganization, cancer is increasing in countries where illiteracy and poverty are high. So we are conducting special camps for screening people who are below property line… Women above 30 years must be aware of uterus and breast cancers, which account for 30 per cent-40 per cent cancer deaths among women. Women must get checked for cancer at least once in every five years… People must stay away from tobacco, smoking and cultivate a healthy lifestyle, the minister says.
He further said, “Cancer hospitals have been established at Mysuru and Tumkuru. We will soon start a dedicated cancer hospital in Hubballi.”
Karnataka district hospitals have cancer diagnosis centers. According to the health minister, taluk hospitals will soon have such centers as well.
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