Latest news with #AsiaPacificLungCancerPolicyConsensus
Time of India
01-08-2025
- Health
- Time of India
You can get lung cancer in Delhi without smoking, warns shocking new study
As Delhi observes Lung Cancer Day , medical experts are drawing renewed attention to the city's chronically poor air quality and its growing link to rising lung cancer cases — increasingly among non-smokers. The Asia Pacific Lung Cancer Policy Consensus (APAC Consensus), released this week, has highlighted air pollution as a major emerging risk factor across the region. Non-smokers now forming a growing share of lung cancer patients A 30-year study by the Centre for Chest Surgery at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital and Lung Care Foundation reveals a changing patient profile. In 1988, nearly 90% of lung cancer surgery patients were smokers. By 2018, that number had fallen to 50%. Among those under 50, 70% of surgical patients were non-smokers, and among patients below 30, none had a smoking history. Explore courses from Top Institutes in Please select course: Select a Course Category MCA Data Science Leadership Finance Healthcare healthcare Others Digital Marketing Degree Technology Data Science PGDM Data Analytics Artificial Intelligence Product Management MBA others Cybersecurity Operations Management Management CXO Project Management Public Policy Design Thinking Skills you'll gain: Programming Proficiency Data Handling & Analysis Cybersecurity Awareness & Skills Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning Duration: 24 Months Vellore Institute of Technology VIT Master of Computer Applications Starts on Aug 14, 2024 Get Details This shift has prompted experts to point to other environmental triggers. These include prolonged exposure to second-hand smoke, vehicular emissions, industrial pollutants, cooking oil vapours, and indoor fuels such as coal. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like This Man Revealing His Strategy To Earn Upto 3K-5K Daily Income thefutureuniversity Learn More Undo Doctors warn of public health emergency Doctors across the city are raising concern about the alarming trend of younger, non-smoking individuals being diagnosed with lung cancer. Experts also point to possible links between pollution and genetic mutations like EGFR, which are more prevalent in Asian populations. 'We're seeing lung cancer in younger people, in women, in those without any history of smoking or family risk. The common thread is the toxic air,' said Shankar. 'This isn't just an environmental issue, it's a public health emergency.' Live Events As Delhi enters another season of hazardous air, doctors are warning that the connection between pollution and lung cancer is no longer avoidable. According to experts, the risk is now embedded in the very act of breathing. Delhi's air quality and shifting patient profiles Lung cancer has become a significant public health concern in the capital, with its incidence and mortality rates steadily increasing, especially among men. According to the Delhi Cancer Registry, lung cancer accounted for 8.4% of all male cancer cases in 1988, rising to 10.6% by 2015. Among women, it grew from 1.9% to 3.4% in the same period. Delhi's air quality index frequently exceeds permissible limits — often by 8 to 10 times — contributing to a higher risk of respiratory illnesses. Nationally, lung cancer remains one of the leading causes of cancer-related deaths, with India accounting for 5.9% of global cancer cases and 8.1% of related deaths in 2020, according to the Journal of Thoracic Oncology. Medical consensus and policy recommendations Dr Abhishek Shankar, assistant professor of radiation oncology at AIIMS and India's representative in the APAC Consensus, stated that the association between air pollution and lung cancer is now firmly established. 'The link between air pollution and lung cancer is no longer a suspicion — it's a reality we're living with in Delhi,' he said. The APAC Consensus document, developed by ASPIRE for Lung Cancer and regional stakeholders, recommends urgent action to broaden lung cancer risk definitions beyond smoking, improve early screening access, reduce stigma for non-smoker patients, and ensure equitable treatment availability. It also calls for stronger environmental regulations to reduce exposure to carcinogenic pollutants.
Time of India
31-07-2025
- Health
- Time of India
In Delhi, You Don't Have To Smoke To Get Lung Cancer
New Delhi: Lung Cancer Day on Aug 1 is a warning against the city's chronically hazardous air. A newly released Asia Pacific Lung Cancer Policy Consensus (APAC Consensus) has spotlighted the alarming rise in lung cancer cases linked to air pollution across the region. Indeed, the smog and PM2.5 in Delhi's air could be why doctors are seeing more lung cancer patients — many of them non-smokers — in the city. Lung cancer is now a significant health concern in Delhi, with increasing incidence and mortality, particularly among men. The city's air quality index routinely exceeds safe limits — often by 8 to 10 times the norm. In 2020, India accounted for 5.9% of all global cancer cases and 8.1% of cancer-related deaths, with a substantial share attributed to lung cancer, according to the Journal of Thoracic Oncology. This national trend mirrors what is being observed in Delhi. Lung cancer's share of total cancer cases in the capital has been steadily rising. Among men, it rose from 8.4% of all cancers in 1988 to 10. 6% by 2015, according to Delhi Cancer Registry data. Among women — though traditionally less affected — the trend is equally concerning: an increase from 1. 9% in 1988 to 3.4% in 2015. You Can Also Check: Delhi AQI | Weather in Delhi | Bank Holidays in Delhi | Public Holidays in Delhi "The link between air pollution and lung cancer is no longer a suspicion — it's a reality we're living with in Delhi," said Dr Abhishek Shankar, assistant professor, radiation oncology, AIIMS, who represented India in APAC Consensus. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like 5 Books Warren Buffett Wants You to Read In 2025 Blinkist: Warren Buffett's Reading List Undo Developed by ASPIRE for Lung Cancer and regional stakeholders, the document urges urgent, coordinated action to address non-traditional lung cancer risk factors like air pollution and genetic mutations. One major sign of the changing profile of lung cancer patients is the sharp rise in diagnoses among non-smokers. A 30-year analysis by chest surgeons at the Centre for Chest Surgery in Sir Ganga Ram Hospital and Lung Care Foundation revealed that 90% of lung cancer surgery patients in 1988 were smokers, but by 2018, that figure had dropped to 50%, indicating a big rise in cases among non-smokers. Even more alarmingly, the study found that 70% of those under the age of 50 who underwent surgery for lung cancer were non-smokers. In the below-30 age group, none of the patients were smokers. The research was triggered by doctors noticing an increasing number of relatively young or non-smoking patients with lung cancer. Doctors point to several contributing factors in Delhi's environment, among them prolonged exposure to second-hand smoke, vehicular emissions, industrial pollutants, cooking oil vapours and indoor fuels like coal. Experts are also flagging a possible link between air pollution and oncogenic mutations such as EGFR, which are especially common among Asian patients. "We're seeing lung cancer in younger people, in women, in those without any history of smoking or family risk. The common thread is the toxic air," said Shankar. "You can't talk about reducing lung cancer in Delhi without first addressing the air we breathe. This isn't just an environmental issue, it's a public health emergency." The APAC Consensus document calls for expanding lung cancer risk definitions beyond smoking, strengthening environmental regulations, improving access to early screening, reducing stigma — particularly for non-smoker patients — and ensuring equitable access to treatment. As Delhi braces for another season of bad air, doctors say the connection between pollution and cancer is now impossible to ignore. Breathing, they say, shouldn't come with a cancer warning — but right now, it does.
