Chennai has largest number of child cancer cases, Delhi second on list
Chennai has the
largest instances of child cancer. It has 159 cases of child cancer for every million
people. Delhi comes second with 149 cases per every million. Pune, with 47 per
million, is the lowest.
The doctors observe
that only streamlined healthcare system and early reporting of cancer cases
will improve the situation rather than blaming environmental hazards. On the
positive side, Chennai has a number of best hospitals with special cancer
treatment centres. There has been a substantial rise in the number of cancer
patients coming from outside over the last few years.
The risk of childhood
cancer is more in case of boys as compared to girls. Though th doctors find it
baffling, social reasons are cited.Leukemia is the most common among children
constituting almost 38% of the new case. Leukemia and brain tumours are more
common in children is because blood and brain cells are the fastest growing
cells in babies.
Lymphoma (a type of
blood cancer) was the second most prevalent among children. Doctors observe
that the proportion of childhood cancers relative to cancers in all age groups
varied between 0.5 to 5.8%.
Chennai has also seen
a substantial rise in the number of children reporting with retinoblastoma
(tumour in the eye). There are at least 100-150 new cases every year.Consanguineous
marriages could be one of the reasons for childhood cancer.With better
diagnostic and treatment capability, the cure rate is about 80%.
