New Delhi: Mutations in human genes lead to uncontrolled growth of breast cells, commonly known as breast cancer. According to an estimate, about 40 percent of young women in India are vulnerable to breast cancer. The serious question here is that even after diagnosis and treatment, not all breast cancer patients in India survive. Compared to developed countries, on an average only seven out of 10 patients in India are able to survive after treatment.
New Delhi-based Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) reports that the survival rate of breast cancer patients in India ranges from 66 to 70 per cent while in developed countries it reaches 99 per cent. ICMR argues that good quality care is essential to improve the low survival rates of breast cancer patients in India.
Indian scientists will start a new study on breast cancer patients. Dr. Nisha, Scientist, Non Infectious Diseases Branch, ICMR has been appointed as the Program Officer. The study will be carried out across hospitals in East, West, North, South and North Eastern states. ICMR said that this entire study will be based on the hub and spoke model. The hospitals under the hub model would be those with at least one thousand breast cancer patients registered annually, while the spoke model would be those with more than three thousand patients registered annually. Applications have also been sought from top institutions of the country to complete this study.
Breast cancer status in India –
- Every four minutes, an Indian woman is diagnosed with breast cancer.
- There were 1.62 lakh new cases and 87,090 deaths due to breast cancer in 2018.
- The highest cancer rate in India is in the state of Kerala.
- Other states include Mizoram, Haryana, Delhi and Karnataka.
- One in 22 women in cities, one in 60 women in villages are at risk of breast cancer.
(Figures: World Health Organization report 2019, Delhi AIIMS study)
