Experts seek cancer registry for boost healthcare

Hyderabad: Healthcare experts insist on maintaining a state-wide cancer registry to provide better healthcare services for cancer patients. According to the director of MNJ Institute of Oncology Hospital, Telangana lacks an overall registry, unlike other states such as Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.

While the ICMR-National Centre for Disease Informatics and Research does have a website mentioning five cancer hospitals in the state and the number of cases reported, the data from these hospitals has not been updated. According to the report of the National Cancer Registry Programme 2020 — a factsheet on the profile of cancer cases in Telangana — the projected cases in 2025 among males are 24,857 and among females are 28,708. This is higher than the projections for 2020: 22,186 in males and 25,434 in females. The report indicates that females are at a greater risk of getting cancer, with 1 in every 7 women likely to develop cancer in the age group of 0-74 years compared to 1 in every 9 men. Of all cancer types prevalent among women in Hyderabad district, 35.5 per cent are breast cancers, 8.7 per cent are cervical cancers, and 6.9 per cent are ovarian cancers. Among all PBCRs (population-based cancer registries) in the country, Hyderabad district recorded the highest incidence rate for breast cancer —48/100,000 as per this report.

"Telangana does not have a registry where data from all hospitals in the state is recorded and documented," said Dr M. Srinivasulu, director of MNJIO Hospital. "Every hospital, whether government or private, is required to report cancer patients to the government, but this does not happen in Telangana," he said.

He told Deccan Chronicle that MNJ reported 12,728 cancer cases in 2023. Around 12,084 cases were reported in 2022 and 10,712 in 2021. Dr N. Jayalatha, former director of MNJ, said that while Arogyasri numbers tell us the number of cancer cases in all hospitals in the city, such as Basavataram and NIMS, there is no formal registration of cancer cases from these hospitals at MNJ.

As per NFHS-5, the percentage of adults screened for major cancers such as cervical cancer, breast cancer, and oral cancer remains low. Only 3.3 per cent of women between the ages of 30 to 49 years underwent cervical cancer screening in Telangana. For breast cancer, only 0.3 per cent of them underwent screening. "Breast cancer continues to be the number one cancer among females in the state, followed by cervical cancer," Dr. Srinivasulu said.

The magnitude of the estimated number of cancer cases in the state by the end of 2024 was much higher as per the Augmented Cancer Care Plan released by the Indian Institute of Public Health, Hyderabad. The total cases by the end of 2024 are projected to be 1,39,735. "Available data was extracted from the Lancet Global Burden of Disease study conducted by ICMR to estimate and predict the future magnitude of specific cancers in Telangana. A 37 per cent increase is anticipated in the crude incidence of breast cancer between 2016 and 2036. A 28 per cent decrease is projected in the crude incidence of cancer of the cervix between 2016 and 2036," the report mentioned. Crude incidence refers to the number of new cancers per 100,000 persons.

This shows that despite a projected increase in cases where women are at greater risk, the state does not have any body that accumulates all the data from the state. While a Population-Based Cancer Registry should mention cases from all over the state, these numbers are only reported from two to three major hospitals located in Hyderabad, where total patients include people from other states as well.