Amritsar city has 8,364 suspected cases of cancer. The fact came to the fore during an awareness programme organised by the district health authorities here on Monday.    
Sources said that only 2,017 cancer patients were under treatment. Principal of Government Medical College Dr SS Shergill, who presided over the event, said that cancer was a fatal disease and urged the people to get themselves examined at the earliest.

"Cancer is curable if detected and diagnosed at an early stage," he said. He added that the aim behind the early detection and treatment of cancer was to reduce the number of fatalities from the disease.  District family welfare officer-cum-cancer programme coordinator, Dr Ranjit Singh Buttar, said that more than 200 doctors from seven districts had been trained to treat cancer.