Incidence of Lung and Mouth Cancer cases are on rising, non-smokers are also falling prey to the disease, Says City Doctors on World No Tobacco Day

●       North has an estimated daily lung and oral cancer per 100,000 people is around 250 and 130 respectively, which is the highest burden in the country

●       80-85% of patients continue to report lung cancer at advanced stages

●       Targeted tissue therapy is becoming the best alternative to chemotherapy for cancer treatment

●       The life expectancy of lung cancer patients has increased from less than a year to 3-5 years with the help of genetic testing even in advanced-stage cancer

New Delhi, Monday, May 30, 2022: Ahead of World No Tobacco Day, the clinicians from the city participated in a discussion organized by Neuberg Diagnostics to share insights on tobacco’s ill effects. Experts shared that lung and mouth cancers have become the top two cancer sites in males, however, the rising number of incidences in women has become a cause of concern as lung cancer is the fourth most prominent cancer site in women too.  According to experts, weight loss, sputum production, cough, and coughing blood are some of the prominent early symptoms of lung cancer.

Consuming cigarettes, tobacco chewing, hookah, betel leaf with tobacco, reverse smoking, household, and traffic pollutants, are the main causes of lung cancer, apart from occupational factors such as working in industries, mining sector, etc.The experts noted that in North India the estimated daily lung and oral cancer per 100,000 people is around 250 and 130 respectively, which is the highest burden in the country.

In India, shockingly, the rate of tobacco consumption has increased in people in adolescence, which is also an important reason for the prevalence of lung cancer. Cigarette smoking in childhood and adolescence plays a role in developing lung cancer by contributing to the duration of smoking and lifetime exposure to smoking-related carcinogens and may serve as an independent risk factor for lung cancer.

Consumption of tobacco not only has an ill effect on the person who is consuming it but also on their families as a passive smoker has a chance of contracting cancer too. Doctors requested everyone to stop consuming tobacco immediately and it will improve not only the quality of their life but also the people around them.

Dr. Sumant Gupta, Medical Oncologist, Metro Hospital, Faridabad said “Most of the times lung cancer is mistaken for tuberculosis in the earlier stages as the symptoms of both the diseases are very similar. In both the cases, a patient experiences coughing and or coughing up blood. “50% of the lung cancer patients die in the first-year post-diagnosis. We can ensure a 14% to 20% decrease in deaths if the cancer is detected at the earlier stages. However, early symptoms are less visible, hence it is difficult to detect lung cancer at early stages.”

He further added, Integrated and multidisciplinary care for cancer patients by surgical, medical, molecular pathologist and genetic counselor can effectively manage these patients. Targeted therapy has emerged as an important method to treat cancer.

Dr. Amrita Singh, Chief of Lab Services, Neuberg Diagnostics, Delhi said “Targeted therapies act on specific molecular targets associated with cancer, whereas most standard chemotherapies act on all rapidly dividing normal and cancerous cells, which also kill normal cells. Targeted therapy is known to cause lesser side effects as compared to chemotherapy while improving the quality of life of patients.”

She further added, “Cancer is caused by specific changes to genes that control the way our cells function, especially how they grow and divide. Genes carry the instructions to make proteins, which do much of the work in our cells. There is a new advancement in diagnostic of cancer, such as genomic testing which further help experts to plan personalized targeted therapies to the patients for better outcomes.”

The experts highlighted prevention is better than cure and urged all society members to stop consuming tobacco in any form immediately and lead a healthy life.