Maharashtra’s Gadchiroli district recorded the highest incidence of oral cancer cases in the country in 2015-16, according to a recent study. Gadchiroli, situated along the easternmost border of Maharashtra, reports over 600 cases of cancer every year, of which 28% is oral cancer, according to Population-Based Cancer Registry (PBCR).
PBCR is a joint initiative by Tata Memorial Hospital (TMH) and Dr Abhay Bang’s Society for Education, Action and Research in Community Health (SEARCH) aimed to study the high rate of cancer patients in Maharashtra’s Gadchiroli district. The rate of oral cancer in the district was 12 cases per one lakh population in women and 20 cases per one lakh in men in the year 2015-16, which is the highest rate in the country. Of the 600 reports of cancer every year, 40% in men and 20% among women is identified as oral cancers. Over the country, the prevalence of oral cancer is about 10-12% of all cancer cases.
“Oral cancer was the second leading cancer among women after cervical cancer, which is highly unexpected. Fifty per cent of cancers among males and 30% among females were tobacco-related,” Dr Yogesh Kalkonde told Hindustan Times. He is co-principal investigator and rural chronic non-communicable diseases in-charge for SEARCH study.
Dr. Kalkonde was responsible to create the PBCR, which he established through house to house survey and hospital data. The PBCR was initiated after a SEARCH study found that 50.4% of Gadchiroli’s population were tobacco users. The researchers found that the rate of cancer incidents can be brought down to 50 per cent if tobacco habits of people are curbed.
