Transition in Incidence and Age at diagnosis of Tobacco Related Cancers in South India

Abstract

Objective: To elucidate the impacts in incidence and shift in the age at diagnosis of tobacco related cancers (TRC) in south India after launching the national strategic action plan in India Methods: We analysed data of south Indian cancer registries, age-standardised rates (ASR)to estimate annual percentage changes (APC) and transition by gender and region using Join point regression. Results: Over the 25-year period, among men Trivandrum registry showed a significantly increasing trend by 0.9%, while among women, Chennai showed a decreasing trend by -1.3% annually. Lung cancer incidence trends changed significantly among women, increased by 2.3% per year from 1991-1998 and by 7.8% from 1998-2012 in Trivandrum. Rising trends for lung cancer was observed. Mouth cancer incidence declined significantly among men, APC shows a decreasing trend by 2.6% per year from 1991-2003 and by 1.8% from 2003-2012 in Trivandrum while rising trends showed in Kollam, Bengaluru and Chennai. Conclusion: Evidence showed decline in incidence rate of some TRCs. Gender and region disparities in incidence remain. Younger age shift in the age at incidence of TRC is alarming. The findings suggest that comprehensive cancer control efforts, evidence-based tobacco control interventions, are needed to reduce tobacco use and cancer burden in India.