Even as cancer incidence is continuing to increase in India, experts on World Cancer Day on Sunday suggested that if cancer is detected and diagnosed at an initial stage, then cure rate is very high. World Cancer Day is observed on February 4 each year. The theme this year is ‘Close the Care Gap’. The experts further noted that after the diagnosis of cancer, right treatment plan starting on day one is most important. Modern medicines have helped improve the clinical outcomes in a big way.
According to the Indian Council of Medical Research-National Cancer Registry Programme, the number of cancer cases in the country is projected to go up from 14.6 lakh in 2022 to 15.7 lakh in 2025. Detecting disease earlier also reduces the need for costly advance-stage treatments, benefiting health care systems and patients alike.
By the time symptoms develop and seen, many cancers are found to be in Stage three or four, when cure rates falls down to less than 25 percent. To win over cancer in India first step is educating people to get screened for cancer before they have any symptoms, which helps to find cancer early. If found early in stages I or II, most cancers are curable in more than 80 percent of patients, said Ashish Gupta, Chief Oncologist, Unique Hospital Cancer Center, Delhi.
