Incidence of Primary Lung Cancer in India

While fairly accurate data for mortality rate and less reliable figures for morbidity rate for lung cancer are available in many Western countries, we have no such information in India. The reasons for this are obvious. In the first place, there is no separate column for lung cancer even in the morbidity returns regarding hospital admis-sions of the different States in the country. Secondly, it is a fact that even to-day there is no reliable machinery for the collection of vital data in India. Paucity of reliable reports regarding the incidence of lung cancer in India has led to the erroneous impression in other countries that the disease is rare in India. Doll (1953) has quoted Nath and Grewal (1935) and Gharpure (1948) as evidence of the extreme rarity of the disease. Banker (1955) has, however, corrected the statement made by Gharpure and shown that 22 cases in Gharpure's series which were shown to have chest cancer had in fact primary carcinoma of the lung. Banker studied necropsy data of 43 cases of lung cancer among 9,210 consecutive necropsies and showed that primary cancer of the lung constituted 14.4%/, of cancer in all sites. Sirsat (1958) reported that at the Tata Memorial Hospital primary cancer of the lung constituted 1 % of all malignant tumours. Because there is a growing impression amongst physic.ans and surgeons that lung cancer is on the increase, a comprehensive epidemiological study is undoubtedly indicated. The data presented here are intended to give a rough idea of the incidence of lung cancer in India and its possible increase during recent years. The figures have been collected from teaching hospi-tals and cancer institutes since adequate diagnostic facilities are available only in those institutions. In the absence of a systematic survey, we have to depend on hospital statistics and necropsy data to assess the incidence of the disease.