In a recent paper: “History of Growing burden of Cancer in India: From Antiquity to 21st century” Mohandas K. Mallath of the Tata Medical Centre, Kolkata, and Robert Smith from Kings College, London show that India’s cancer burden will continue to increase as a result of the ageing of its population and improving access to cancer diagnostics in rural areas.
Cancer is primarily a disease of older people, hence, as life expectancy went up, cancer incidences too went up, said Dr. Mallath, a senior consultant of Digestive Oncology. Maximum increases will occur in the most populous and least developed States, where the facilities for cancer diagnostics and treatment are grossly inadequate.