Cancer mortality 2000-’19: Decrease among men, increase among women

Kochi: There is an estimated increase in mortality trend among Indians with cancers of the lung, breast, colorectum, lymphoma and multiple myeloma, gallbladder, pancreas, kidney and mesothelioma in the past two decades, an analysis shows. The highest annual increase was observed in pancreatic cancer among both sexes -- 2 per cent among men and 4 per cent among women.

The analysis of mortality trends of 23 major cancers in the Indian population between 2000 and 2019 — conducted by Amrita Hospital, Kochi — however shows a declining mortality trend in cancers of the stomach, esophagus, leukaemia, larynx and melanoma, irrespective of sex, during the period.

The overall and individual cancer mortality trends were analysed on the basis of World Health Organisation’s Global Health Observatory (GHO) database, which provides the latest data on deaths and disability due to all causes worldwide. Globally, cancer is the second most lethal noncommunicable disease after cardiovascular disease and there were 12.85 million deaths from 23 major cancers in the country in the 19 years.