Study: Cancers in head and neck rising, account for 26% cases in India

Around 26 per cent of cancer patients in India have tumours in the head and neck, and there is an upward trend of such cases in the country, a study has found.

The findings of the study, conducted on 1,869 cancer patients across the country, were released on the World Head and Neck Cancer Day observed on Saturday.

Cancer Mukt Bharat Foundation, a Delhi-based non-profit organisation, conducted the study by collating data from calls received on its helpline number from March 1 to June 30.

In India, nearly two-thirds of cancer cases are detected late likely due to low adoption of proper screening, he said.

Head and neck cancer was closely followed by gastrointestinal cancers which was 16 per cent.

Fufteen per cent cancers in India re breast cancers and and blood cancers make up 9 per cent of them.

These data are in line with the latest GLOBOCAN data a database that gives global cancer statistics on India.

GLOBOCON data is part of International Agency for Research on Cancer's Global Cancer Observatory.

India is expected to have 2.1 million new cancer cases by 2040, a big jump from the numbers in 2020, as per a recent GLOBOCAN report.