Cervical and breast cancers in women have eclipsed oral and lung malignancies in men in Telangana.
Doctors at the State-run Mehdi Nawaz Jung Regional Center for Oncology are seeing a rise in breast and cervical cancers, and pitching for increased awareness to improve survival. While breast cancer rise is being attributed to lifestyle changes, cervical cancers are being tied to infections with vaccine-preventable human papillomavirus.
“The number of breast and cervical cancers is now roughly the same. In men, oral and lung cancers, mainly due to chewing and smoking tobacco, are predominant,” said N. Jayalatha, the center’s director. Improved diagnostic facilities too have contributed to the rise, the doctor said.
Dr. Jayalatha says the institute has shared with the State government several observations based on data obtained from patients seeking treatment. For instance, MNJ doctors have observed that cervical cancer rates in Muslim women are less compared to Hindu women. A protective effect from sexual transmission of the virus due to practice of circumcision in Muslim men, was cited as reason for lower rates of infection among Muslim women.
The State government has also learnt from MNJ’s database that Nalgonda and Warangal have higher rates of lung cancer compared to other districts, while oral, stomach and colorectal cancer rates are higher in Khammam and Adilabad.
To prevent infections with HPV and subsequently lower incidence of cervical cancer, the medical community is advocating vaccination for girls aged between 8 and 18 years. “Many types of HPV infections are vaccine preventable. But awareness about cancer prevention is still low. On Sunday, we carried out an awareness walk with students of Osmania University,” Dr. Jayalatha said. The Health Ministry is reportedly considering introducing HPV vaccination in the country’s Universal Immunisation Programme.
Doctors in private hospitals also participated in mass-awareness events held on Sunday, observed across the globe as World Cancer Day.
Published - February 05, 2018 12:45 am IST
