Associated Factors of Cancer in India, Based on the NFHS

Anandas Srivastava^*
*Correspondence: Dr. Anandas Srivastava, Department of Oncology, Jawaharlal Nehru Institute of Advanced Studies, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India, Email:

Description

According to the NICPR in the year 2010, the average estimated prevalence of cancer was 25 lakhs and incidence was about 07 lakhs in India, there were 5.56 lakh deaths due to cancer. The study is based on data from NFHS (2015-16). From the study, it has been found that asthma and diabetes among biological factors; tobacco and alcohol consumption, consumption of non-vegetarian food and arsenic exposure (only among women) among in India, behavioral variables are the most important predictors of cancer prevalence in both men and women.

Lung, breast, cervical, colorectal and stomach cancers accounted for more than 40 per cent of all cases diagnosed worldwide. In men, lung cancer was the most common (16.7 per cent of all new cases in men) whereas breast cancer was by far the most common cancer diagnosed in women (25.2 per cent of all new cases in women). Globally, nearly 1 in 6 deaths are accounted to cancer. According to the National Institute of Cancer Prevention and Research (NICPR), the average estimated prevalence of cancer in India in 2010 was 2,500,000, with an incidence of around 7,00,000 in the same year. Asthma and diabetes identified as the primary predictors of cancer prevalence in both men and women. Women who smoke tobacco are 1.76 times significantly more likely to get cancer whereas in case of men who smoke are 2.65 times significantly more likely to get cancer. Among both women and men, non-vegetarian diet emerged to be important determinants for cancer prevalence for women and men. Among women who are exposed to arsenic through groundwater are 1.81 times significantly more likely to get cancer.

There are various factors which are responsible for the different types of cancers. Tobacco addiction, smokeless tobacco utilizes, and alcohol intakes are all linked to an increased risk of oral and lip cancer. The use of betel quid is also highly related to oral and lip cancer. The risk of throat cancer is strongly linked to alcohol usage. Asthma and lung cancer have high association and also specific chemical and polluted environment exposure increases the risk of lung cancer. Obesity raises the risk of oesophageal cancer. Obesity is also linked to an increased risk of stomach cancer. Consumption of smokeless tobacco or snus elevates the risk of stomach cancer. Meat consumption and dietary behaviour also play a significant role in the risk of stomach cancer. Liver cancer is associated with obesity and inflammation.

Heavy smoking and heavy consumption of alcohol are associated with the risk of liver cancer. Arsenic poisoning also increases the risk of liver cancer. Diabetes is associated with the risk of liver cancer and family history. The risk of prostate cancer is associated with family history, dietary pattern, obesity, chronic inflammation and cigarette smoking. A weak association of prostate cancer is found with STI. The risk of gall bladder cancer is primarily related to family history, smoking behaviour, exposure to heavy metals and arsenic poising. The risk of colorectal cancer increases with the dietary pattern, consumption of red and processed meat and type II diabetes. Alcohol consumption is associated with colon cancer; smoking is associated with rectal cancer. The risk of acquiring rectal cancer increase with an increase in obesity. The risk of cervical cancer increases with smoking behaviour. Women who have used oral contraceptives for five or more years have a higher risk of cervical cancer than women who have never used oral contraceptives and family history is also associated with risk of cervical cancer. The risk of breast cancer is related to obesity among women breastfeeding reduces the risk of breast cancer among women. Alcohol use raises the risk of developing breast cancer. Women who had ever used oral contraceptives had a slight increase in the relative risk of breast cancer compared with women who had never used oral contraceptives.

Conclusion

Regression analysis reveals that diabetes and asthma are highly associated with the cancer epidemic among both men and women. More specifically, tobacco and alcohol consumption among women and cigarette smoking among men is highly associated with cancer whereas; consumption of non-vegetarian diet among both men and women has an adverse effect of causing malignancy in their body. The current analysis debates that, woman who consumes oral contraceptive pills are protected from a certain type of cancers.