With near about five lakh cancer patients, West Bengal accounts for half of the country's total cancer cases, a senior doctor said on Sunday.

"West Bengal has five lakhs cancer patients. 70,000 cases of cancer are detected every year in the state out of which 35,000 die annually due to cancer," medical director, Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose Cancer Research Institute Ashis Mukhopadhyay said.

He said lungs cancer is more prevalent among men and cervical cancer among women.

In urban areas, breast cancer is more prevalent. "Every 25 women out of 100 suffer from breast cancer," he said.

He said quitting smoking and alcohol consumption and steps to control pollution can help prevent cancer.