Lung cancer kills 80,000 a year, but there’s hope

Lung cancer is the deadliest of all cancers in India, accounting for 80,000 of the 5.5 lakh (550,000) cancer deaths in the country. It is the number one cancer among Indian men and number six among women.

Lung cancer is the deadliest of all cancers in India, accounting for 80,000 of the 5.5 lakh (550,000) cancer deaths in the country. It is the number one cancer among Indian men and number six among women.

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The reason why it is so fatal, say experts, is that 85 per cent cases are diagnosed in stages 3 and 4, when a surgical cure is no longer an option.

“Since there are no symptoms in the early stages, people get diagnosed late, if at all,” said Dr Jaydip Biswas, director, Chittaranjan National Cancer Institute, Kolkata.

“Unlike in other cancers, where we have effective chemotherapy (drug treatment), drugs for lung cancer don’t act effectively enough,” said Dr Sameer Kaul, surgical oncologist, Indraparastha Apollo Hospitals.

But there is hope. The genetic mapping of lung cancer by British scientists is expected to transform the way it is diagnosed and treated. “The mapping of the lung cancer genome will have a huge impact on treatment as it will help develop effective new drugs that target mutant DNA and force the cancer to regress,” said Dr Kaul.

Cancer is the fourth largest cause of death after heart, respiratory and diarrhoeal diseases in India.

“Smoking history and mediastinal (area separating the lungs) symptoms such as hoarseness of voice, SVC obstruction (narrowing or blockage of the superior vena cava, the second largest vein in the human body that moves blood from the upper half of the body to the heart) and dysphagia (difficulty in swallowing) favour the diagnosis of lung cancer. Lung cancer progresses very quickly — within two years — from stages one to four,” said Dr Shyam Agrawal, medical oncologist at Ganga Ram Hospital.