Telangana needs cancer registry: Experts

Hyderabad: Unlike Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, Telangana doesn’t have a registry of cancer patients and obtaining data on the number of cancer cases has been a hassle, said Dr M. Srinivasulu, director of MNJ Institute of Oncology (MNJIO).

“Though the website of the ICMR-National Centre for Disease Informatics and Research has the option to update the details of cancer patients, data from the five hospitals in Telangana have not been updated. This has been making the understanding the cancer trends in the state difficult”, he explained.

He told the Deccan Chronicle that MNJIO reported 12,728 cancer cases in 2023, 12,084 in 2022 and 10,712 in 2021.

According to the Report of the National Cancer Registry Programme 2020, a factsheet on the profile of cancer cases, Telangana is projected to have cancer cases among 24,857 males and 28,708 females by 2025.

Of all cancer types prevalent among women in the Hyderabad district, 35.5 per cent are breast cancers, 8.7 are cervical cancers, 6.9 per cent are ovarian cancers and the Hyderabad district recorded the highest incidence rate for breast cancer i.e. 48 per one lakh population.

"Breast cancer continues to be the number one cancer among females in the state, followed by cervical cancer," Dr Srinivasulu said.

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 number of cases by the end of 2024 is projected to be 1,39,735.

“This shows that despite a projected increase in the incidence of cases where women are at greater risk, the state does not have anybody that cumulates all the data. While a population-based cancer registry should mention cases from all over the state, these numbers are only reported from major hospitals in Hyderabad,” explained Dr N. Jayalatha, former director of MNJIO.