TWILIGHT ZONE

More Indian women smoking, hit by cancer

Mumbai: Indian women’s affair with the nicotine stick is directly linked to the growing incidence of lung cancer among them.A report by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), which has compiled data from various cancer registries across the country, shows that Bangalore had 1.2 new cases of lung cancer among women per one lakh population in 1982. In 2005, this number stood at 2.6. Chennai saw a jump from 1.1 in 1982 to 3.6 in 2005, while Delhi’s incidence rose from 2.6 in 1988 to 3.6 cases in 2005. Incidentally, Mumbai emerged as an exception, with the incidence falling from 3.2 in 1982 to 2.7 in 2005.
    “An increase in lung cancer indicates that smoking of manufactured cigarettes is on the rise as against bidis (bidi smoking, unlike cigarette smoking, is restricted to the oral cavity),’’ said Dr Surendra Shastri of Tata Memorial Hospital in Parel.

 

Lung cancer in women rises

Mumbai: If this year’s World No Tobacco Day targeted women and their increasing penchant for smoking, it was with a deadly reason. Lung cancer—the deadliest after-effect of smoking—has been steadily rising among Indian women, show cancer statistics from various parts of the country.
    “The increase in incidence of lung cancer among Indian women can be directly attributed to increased smoking,’’ said Bangalorebased Dr A Nandakumar, deputy director-general of ICMR and officer-in-charge of the National Cancer Registry Programme.
    Dr Surendra Shastri, who heads the preventive oncology department at Tata Memorial Hospital in Parel, said the increasing trend of lung cancer among Indian women was noticed almost eight years ago. “An increase in lung cancer indicates that smoking of cigarette is on the rise as against bidis (bidi smoking, unlike cigarettes, is restricted to the oral cavity),’’ he said.
    The cancer tome, ‘Time Trends in Cancer Incidence Rates (1982-2005)’, brought out by the ICMR last year proved beyond doubt that the Indian woman is falling prey to lung cancer. The ICMR report—a compilation from various cancer registered across the country—showed that Bangalore had 1.2 new cases of lung cancer among women per 1 lakh population in 1982. In 2005, this number stood at 2.6. Chennai saw a jump from 1.1 in 1982 to 3.6 in 2005, while Delhi’s incidence rose from 2.6 in 1988 to 3.6 cases in 2005. Incidentally, Mumbai emerged as an exception with the incidence falling from 3.2 in 1982 to 2.7 in 2005.
    “Earlier, it was felt that passive smoking was the cause of lung cancer among women, but the increasing incidence shows that active smoking is the cause,’’ said Nandakumar. Shastri cited the example of the US, where it is lung cancer and not breast cancer that is the leading cause of all cancer deaths.Last week, a study released by the Tata Memorial Hospital showed that smoking among call centre employees, especially women, was on the rise.
    There also is the data released by the ‘Tobacco Atlas’, which was published by the American Cancer Society last year: India stands third among the top 20 women smoking populations across the globe.