Breast Cancer Statistics from Delhi, Chandigarh

Rising trends in young population

STATISTICS OF BREAST CANCER IN DELHI AND CHANDIGARH

Breast Cancer is the most common cancer in India, including cities and rural areas. Both Delhi and Chandigarh, have been seeing rising numbers over the years and breast cancer is the most common cancer in these cities as well.
The statistics for Delhi and Chandigarh have been sourced from the Publication of PBCR 2012 - 2014 (PBCR = Population Based Cancer Registry, an arm of NCRP). Unfortunately, any published Indian data after this is not available (or atleast I am not aware). Globocan 2018 cites country wide breast cancer statistics for the year 2018, but does not give city wise breakup. So, for the time being, we stick to PBCR data, and also the personal experiences of many Oncologists treating Breast Cancer in these cities, who do agree with the rising trend in young and increasing numbers.

STATISTICS OF BREAST CANCER IN DELHI

The charts below were published in the PBCR 2012 - 2014 data. They show, unequivocally, that breast cancer indeed is the most common cancer in Delhi and accounts for almost one third of all cancers in women in Delhi.


Breast Cancer in Delhi

Distribution of different cancers in Delhi

From this chart showing the percentage wise distribution of different cancers in Mumbai:

  • Breast Cancer is the most common cancer in women in Delhi and accounted for 28.6% of all cancer cases in women in Delhi. This almost amounts to one fourth of all cancers. This means, every fourth cancer detected in a woman in Delhi will be a breast cancer.

  • The second most common cancer was cancer of the cervix, which was 10.8% of all cancers in women. You can judge the difference between the first (breast cancer - 28.6%), and the second (cervical cancer 10.8%), telling us how much the numbers of breast cancer in Delhi are rising.

  • The numbers in the registry might be lower than the real incidence, because some breast cancer patients are managed at smaller hospitals and may not be reported at all.

Trends in Breast Cancer in Delhi

Trends of Breast Cancer in Delhi

Again, this is an older chart, but one of the few available to show the trends. See both cervical cancer and breast cancer. Initially, cancer of the cervix was more common and breast cancer was second most common and now its the other way round. Breast Cancer has increased over last few decades while cervical cancer has actually reduced.

Statistics of Breast Cancer in Chandigarh


Age wise distribution of Breast Cancer in Chandigarh

Age Wise Distribution of Breast Cancer in Chandigarh

This chart from the Consolidated Report of the HBCR's (2007 - 2011) and is the only one I could find for Chandigarh. This graph shows distribution of breast cancer in women in Chandigarh according to their age group. We have marked out the percentage distribution for age group of 25 to 49, and it comes to about 49% of all breast cancer cases in Chandigarh. This tells us about the rising numbers in younger women.
Breast Cancer starts rising in the 30s, reaches a peak in 40s and 50s, and then shows some reduction in numbers. Maximum women would be in the 40 to 60 age group.

TAKE HOME MESSAGE

The message is pretty clear. The numbers of breast cancer (for all age groups) in both Delhi and Chandigarh are rising. We are also seeing more and more numbers of breast cancer in the younger age group (Most cancers in the young tend to be aggressive). The reason is not that few decades back, it was not detected earlier and now it is being detected earlier. The reason is that there has been a very genuine rise in the incidence of breast cancer in younger women.
So the need of the hour is education of the masses - 'Breast Awareness', so that, if they 'know' what happens in breast cancer and what are the symptoms of breast cancer, they can definitely catch it early in case they develop it, they report earlier to appropriate doctors and have a higher chances of a cure or prolonged survival.