Gallbladder Cancer in India: The whole world is celebrating World Cancer Day on 4th February. Awareness rallies are taking place on the streets. Posts with pink and blue ribbons are being shared on social media. But 51-year-old Ajay Kumar, sitting in a corner of a hospital in Delhi, is oblivious to all this. He has a file in his hand, in which the expiry date of his life is written. This story is not just of Ajay, but of thousands of families in India who are getting trapped in the cruel claws of round bladder cancer i.e. gall bladder cancer every year. Last year in the month of May, a healthy man suddenly realized that he had only 9 to 12 months left in his life. Since that day, he is dying bit by bit every day, because neither chemo, nor amino, nor even surgery can give him relief. Know how the death of the patient is certain in this disease and why it should not be ignored. Know how a gall bladder stone can turn into cancer and spread to the liver and kill you.

May 2025: Pain started suddenly

Ajay’s life was like that of any ordinary middle class Indian. Going to office in the morning, spending time in the evening with my two children, one son who is working and the other who is studying B.Tech in college. Everything was fine till the month of May last year. Suddenly one afternoon Ajay felt a slight pain in the right side of his stomach. They ignored it thinking it was a heat or gas problem.

Symptoms of round bladder cancer

But when the pain started increasing, the family took him to a nearby doctor. The doctor initially prescribed ultrasound (USG). When the report came, it showed swelling and some stones in the gall bladder. The family thought that a small operation would take place and the stones would be removed. But fate had something else in store.

That series of reports and the ‘death warrant’ of the doctors

When the pain did not subside, doctors advised CT Scan and then MRI. After the reports came, the faces of the doctors who were talking smiling till now became serious. Ajay had stage-4 round bladder cancer, which had spread to the liver. What the doctors said after taking Ajay’s wife aside, shook the ground beneath his feet. The doctors said, ‘The cancer has progressed a lot, Ajay ji now has a maximum of 9 to 12 months to live.’

A cheerful family, which was dreaming of their children’s marriage and future, was suddenly plunged into deep silence and mourning. Now, instead of children’s laughter, the smell of medicines and muffled sobs float on the walls of the house.

Why is bladder cancer the ‘silent killer’ in India?
Gallbladder cancer is called the ‘silent killer’ in India. The biggest reason for this is that its initial symptoms like stomach ache, indigestion or jaundice are very common. People keep avoiding them considering them to be gas or stones. By the time cancer is detected, it has already spread to other parts of the body.

Same thing happened in Ajay’s case also. According to doctors, by the time severe pain starts in this cancer, the chances of treatment are very less. The survival rate of this cancer in India is much lower than many other countries of the world.

There is maximum danger in these states of India
The distribution of bladder cancer is very peculiar in India. It is not uniform across the country. Statistics show that most of its patients are found in the states of North India and East India.
In which states of India is the highest incidence of round bladder cancer?

Uttar Pradesh and Bihar: The incidence of this cancer is highest in the areas situated on the banks of river Ganga (Gangetic Plains).

West Bengal and Assam: The cases of bladder cancer are increasing rapidly in these states also.

Delhi and Haryana: Here too the number of patients has increased due to lifestyle and pollution.
What do cancer expert doctors say?
Rakesh Arora, HOD of Cancer Department of Safdarjung, while talking to News 18 Hindi, says that North India has the highest number of patients with gall bladder cancer. The main reasons for this are the presence of heavy metals in the water of Ganga, increasing use of pesticides in the soil and not getting treatment for gallstones for a long time. This cancer is seen more in women of North India than in men. This disease is usually detected only in the third or fourth stage. There is no cure for this cancer anywhere in the world. However, now immunotherapy has started. In some cases, doctors also give targeted therapy, but research is still going on as to how effective it will be in bladder cancer.