Oncologist Warns: Air Pollution Triggering New Wave Of Cancers In India

Pollution

has, since sometime, quietly been fueling a new wave of cancers in the country and with the festive season coming up along with onset of winters, in Delhi-NCR especially, the risk may increase manyfold. In a recent interview, Dr. Shirish Alurkar, senior consultant, medical oncology at HCG Aastha Cancer Centre, Ahmedabad, mentioned that through cancer has always been said to be associated with lifestyle problems like use of tobacco, genetics and diet, there is a growing problem that has been driving India’s rising cancer burden, which is pollution. The one that happens both indoors and outdoors.

He also added that “From the toxic smog blanketing cities to the smoke of cooking stoves in rural homes, environmental pollution is steadily reshaping India’s cancer landscape.”Read More: Can You Get Rabies From A Cat Scratch? To give a perspective and highlight how air pollution leads to a rise in the number of lung cancer patients, Dr. Shirish noted that India records more than 1.4 million new cancer cases annually and this number is projected to increase further and reach 1.57 million in 2025. In addition to this, a 2022 study by WHO also mentions that “Air pollution is responsible for 29 percent of all lung cancer deaths globally. Among these, lung cancer has emerged as one of the fastest-growing forms.”

The doctor also stresses that what is extremely alarming is that the rising incidence of lung cancer in those who are non-smokers, as this eventually points towards environmental exposures being one of the major culprits. Dr. Shirish also highlights that doctors across all the major centres have been seeing and reporting more non-smoking women and younger patients developing the type of cancers that were once upon a time largely confided to the smokers and those who were the elderly. He also added that India’s outdoor air in the urban centres exceeds safe particulate matter (PM2.5) limits many times over and this may lead to chronic inflammation in the lungs and can also enter the bloodstream, leading to DNA damage and cancer.Read More: Optical Illusion: Which Door Do You Think Leads To Adventure?