Feature

Preventable Cancers in Females

Every penny spent on preventive screening not only saves precious lives but also brings down the need for public expenditure to build cancer treatment infrastructure

Sangeeth Kini, Vice President, Hemogenomics The incidence of cancer is rising at an alarming rate. There were an estimated 14 lakh new cases of cancers in India in 2020. More women in India were diagnosed with cancers than men in 2020.

While it is a fact that a combination of genetic, environmental and lifestyle factors lead to the alarming rise of cancers every year, the question is whether we can do anything to prevent cancers with the help of simple health check-ups.

In this article, I would like to dwell on two of the major cancers affecting women of our country; and the simple, easy and non-invasive ways to prevent those cancers. Cervical cancer

Cervical cancer is the cancer of cervix – the lower end of the uterus. This is one of the most preventable cancers. But unfortunately, India has the highest number of cervical cancer cases every year. More than 1,00,000 women are detected with cervical cancer and over 50,000 women die of this cancer every year in our country. Such is the severity of this cancer!

Cervical cancers can be prevented through the HPV Vaccine if administered to girls in their adolescence. And the majority of the unvaccinated (even vaccinated) women can still prevent this cancer by undergoing a simple screening test called Thinprep LBC (liquid-based PAP) and HPV mRNA Testing. These tests are very simple to perform and are intended to identify women at risk of developing cervical cancer as well as to detect women with early-stage cervical abnormalities. By identifying and treating such women early on, cervical cancer can be prevented by reversing any earlystage pre-cancerous abnormalities or by stopping further the progression of cancerous abnormalities; thereby being able to save thousands of lives every year from progressing into full-blown cancer (carcinoma in-situ).

Various studies have observed that regular cervical screening reduces the incidence rates of cervical cancer by a minimum of 50 per cent. Breast cancer

This is leading to cancer affecting women. In India, every year about 2.5 lakh women are diagnosed with breast cancers and about 80000 women lose their lives due to this cancer. Almost 70 per cent of breast cancer patients visit their doctor for the first time when they are already in the third or four stages of the disease. It is concerning to find that more women at younger ages are detected with breast cancers these days compared to the earlier time. It is estimated that by 2030, breast cancer would kill more women in India than any other disease.

A simple mammogram test is an answer to prevent advanced breast cancers by early detection of pre-cancerous abnormalities. A mammogram can detect pre-cancerous changes of the breast at least a few years before one can feel a lump or any other abnormality herself as part of selfexamination. By identifying the early pre-cancerous changes and by receiving timely treatment, a woman can almost completely get cured herself of this disease and lead a normal life.

It is estimated that about 40 per cent of breast cancers can be prevented and lives could be saved if women undergo screening with a mammogram at least once in one to two years.

Both the above screening methods – cervical cancer screening and mammogram – can reduce the total incidence of these women’s cancers by 40-60 per cent which translates to saving about 60,000-90,000 lives every year in India. Public health expenditure on cancer care

Our government spends thousands of crores of rupees every year to treat cancer patients by building hospitals and other treatment infrastructure. While that would be of great help to the patients, it would make sense if a fraction of the total cancer care budget is spent on screening and prevention of various cancers. Screening and early detection would substantially reduce the incidence of cancers; consequently, the need to spend thousands of crores on cancer treatment infrastructure would also come down.

Let me conclude by stating that when it comes to cancer care, the first and most desirable public health strategy must be to prevent through screening programmes to reduce the total number of cancer cases which in turn reduces the need to allocate a huge budget for cancer treatment infrastructure. Every penny spent on preventive screening not only saves precious lives but also brings down the need for public expenditure to build cancer treatment infrastructure. In other words, a penny spent on prevention saves many rupees on treatment by the government.