Cancer deaths accounted for six per cent of deaths across all ages, but among the 30-69 years age group this rose to eight per cent of the 25 lakh total male deaths and 12 per cent of the 16 lakh total female deaths.
In men aged between 30 and 69, the three most common fatal cancers were oral cancer (including lip and pharynx) accounting for 23 per cent of all cancer deaths, stomach cancer accounting for 13 per cent, and lung cancer (including trachea and larynx) at 11 per cent.
For women, the leading causes of cancer deaths were cervical cancer, accounting for 17 per cent, stomach cancer accounting to 14 per cent, and breast cancer accounting for 10 per cent.
Tobacco-related cancers represented respectively 42 per cent and 18.3 per cent of male and female cancer deaths between 30-69 years, deaths due to oral cancer was twice that of lung cancer, primarily due to the chewing of tobacco. According to the authors of the study, “The higher prevalence of oral cancers over lung cancers indicate that the range of fatal cancers caused by tobacco in India differs substantially from that in high-income countries.”
An intriguing finding of India’s first nationwide study on cancer was that the rate of cancer deaths in India is around 40 per cent lower in adult men and 30 per cent lower in women than in the US or UK. However, cancer death rates are expected to rise, particularly with increase in age-specific rates of tobacco smoking.
The authors concluded, “Prevention of tobacco-related and cervical cancers and early detection of treatable cancers will reduce cancer deaths in India, particularly in the rural areas that are underserved by cancer services. The substantial variation in cancer rates in India suggests other causative agents which remain to be discovered.”