Cancer Pattern in West Bengal, India: Data from a Hospital-Based Cancer Registry

Abstract

ABSTRACT Aim: The first Population Based Cancer Registry (PBCR) in India was organized in Mumbai in 1963. Subsequently under the National Cancer Registry Programme (NCRP) of Indian Council of Medical Research a few more registries was started in different cities of India such as Bangalore, Chennai and New Delhi. The 1st PBCR was organized in Kolkata in Chittaranjan National Cancer Institute in 1997. We started our hospital-based cancer registry from 2002, in Kolkata. The PBCR from different cities has shown the distributions of different cancers are different in different cities because of ethnic and dietary differences. The aim of our study was to show the prevailing cancer pattern in the eastern part of India. Methods: From our hospital-based cancer registry we analyzed all the cancer patients, who attended the out patient and in patient departments of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Cancer Research Institute during the period from August 2004 to July 2013. Results: A total of 10,400 cases were registered. The age distribution was 1 month to 91 years, with mean age of 44.2 years. The male (54%) cancer patients were slightly predominating compared with the female (46%) patients. The most frequent malignancies in males were carcinoma of lung (14%), followed by cancer of the oral cavity (11%) and carcinoma of colon (6%). The most frequent reported malignancy in female was breast (30%), followed by uterine cervix (21%), gallbladder (11%) and ovary (10%). In the paediatric age group the most frequent malignancies were ALL (32.4%), followed by Ewings sarcoma (21.2%), rhabdomyosarcoma (16.1%) and brain tumour (13.6%). Conclusions: The cancer pattern in eastern India is a little different from other parts of India & from that of the World cancer registry, because of lifestyle and dietary habits in this part of the country. Disclosure: All authors have declared no conflicts of interest.