Steep fall in cases of cervical cancer in India over last decade: Doctors

Government must implement universal vaccination for girls in age group of 9-14 years to bring the incidence on par with developed nations

BENGALURU / January 2, 2025: Due to improving economy, increasing per capita income and better awareness and hygiene, the incidence of cervical cancer has drastically come down in India in the last 15 years, though it still is much higher than in Western countries. If the current trends hold, cervical cancer will cease to be a major public health challenge in the country in the next one decade. This was said by doctors of Sammprada Hospital, Bengaluru, during the ongoing Cervical Cancer Awareness Month.

Said Dr. Radheshyam Naik, Consultant Medical Oncologist, Hematologist and Bone Marrow Transplant Physician at Sammprada Hospital, Bengaluru: “All aspects of cervical cancer, including prevention, detection, and treatment, have shown remarkable progress in the last 10-15 years. The incidence of cervical cancer in India is coming down drastically as the economy improves. Breast cancer is now becoming much more of a challenge for women health than cervical cancer. In private hospitals, we now see only one to two cases of cervical cancer per week in OPD, compared to 10-12 a decade ago.”

The doctor added: “Cervical cancer in India is on its way to becoming a disease limited only to people from poor socio-economic background, rather than of the middle class. The reason is better genital hygiene, increasing incidence of vaccination among women and popularity of diagnostic tests like pap smear. The Government’s announcement in Budget 2024 to encourage universal vaccination for girls in age group of 9-14 years for prevention of cervical cancer is hugely welcome. Once put in action, it will bring India’s incidence of cervical cancer on par with developed nations. The Government must start this program without any delay.”

Despite decreasing incidence rates in recent years, cervical cancer remains the second most common female cancer in India, accounting for 10% of all female cancers. Dr. Radheshyam Naik said that huge strides have been made in recent years in the treatment of cervical cancer patients, leading to much better outcomes than earlier. “Better detection and latest treatment options like antiangiogenic drugs and immunotherapy have led to drastically improved prognosis, saving thousands of lives each year. Survival is strongly dependent on the stage at diagnosis. More than 80% of cervical cancer patients in Stages 1 and 2 can get totally cured. For Stage 3, this figure is 50-60 percent. While Stage 4 patients can’t be cured, about half of them can expect to live for five years or more.”

Cervical cancer is associated with human papillomavirus (HPV) and lower socioeconomic status. Some methods for cervical cancer screening include Visual inspection with acetic acid (VIA), Magnified VIA (VIAM), Visual inspection with Lugol’s iodine (VILI), The Papanicolaou test (pap smear), and HPV DNA testing.