Lancet Study on Breast Cancer: Breast cancer is a fatal disease, due to which lakhs of people lose their lives every year. Most victims of breast cancer are women, but it can happen to men too. Breast cancer patients are increasing all over the world. Despite better treatment and advanced screening technology, the number of breast cancer patients may increase significantly in the coming decades, which is extremely worrying. According to the latest global study published in The Lancet Oncology, while 23 lakh cases of breast cancer were registered in the year 2023, this number may increase to more than 35 lakh by 2050. Whereas the number of annual deaths is expected to increase from 7.64 lakh to about 10 lakh.
This study is based on Global Burden of Disease (GBD) data, in which data from 204 countries were studied from 1990 to 2023 and projections till 2050 were presented. According to this report, the highest increase of 214% in deaths due to breast cancer since 1990 was recorded in Laos. Apart from this, deaths have increased by 91% in Bangladesh, 80% in Vietnam, 78% in Indonesia, 74% in India, 52% in Japan and 41% in Philippines. The most shocking thing is that there has been a decline of about 37 percent in the breast cancer death rate in China. The figures revealed in this study are very scary.
Kelly Bandhari, lead author of this study and researcher at the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) based at the University of Washington, says that while in high-income countries, better facilities for screening and timely treatment are available, in low- and middle-income countries the death rate is higher due to late diagnosis and lack of quality treatment. The burden of breast cancer is now increasingly shifting to countries where access to health services is limited.
According to TOI report The situation regarding breast cancer is worrying in India also. Here the Age Standardized Incidence Rate (ASIR) was 13 per lakh in 1990, which increased to 29.4 per lakh in 2023. During the same period, the Age Standardized Mortality Rate (ASMR) has increased from 8.9 to 15.5 per lakh. Researchers estimate that by 2050, ASIR in South Asia could reach about 28.5 per lakh and ASMR could reach 18.9. However, experts say that the growth of mortality rate in India is slightly slower than the incidence rate, which indicates some improvement in early detection and treatment.
According to Dr. Mary Ng, Associate Professor, National University of Singapore, the biggest challenge for countries like India is the rapid demographic and epidemiological changes. The coverage of cancer registries in the country is currently limited to only 10 to 15 percent of the population, making it difficult to formulate an accurate and comprehensive strategy. According to recent data, new cases among women aged 20 to 54 have increased by 29 percent since 1990, which shows that the risk of breast cancer is also increasing among young women.
Researchers believe that approximately 28 percent of breast cancer cases globally are related to 6 risk factors. These include smoking, high blood sugar, obesity and unhealthy lifestyle. According to the study, adopting a healthy lifestyle, staying away from smoking, maintaining regular physical activity, limiting red meat intake and controlling weight can reduce the risk of breast cancer. With all these efforts, 2.40 crore healthy life years can be saved. Experts say that awareness, timely testing and improvement in lifestyle can reduce this risk.
