The median age for cancer diagnosis in India is lower when compared to the U.S., U.K., and China, said a report released by Apollo Hospitals. According to the hospital’s data, the average age of diagnosis of breast cancer in India is 52 against 63 in the U.S. and UK, while for lung cancer it is 59 years as opposed to around 70 in the West.
The fourth edition of Apollo Hospitals’s “Health of the Nation” report, which looks at trends in Non-Communicable Diseases (NCD) based on the hospital’s data, has highlighted the huge burden of cancers among the country’s younger population and risk posed by low cancer screening rates.
“What is striking in our database is the median age at which people are diagnosed with cancer; cancer affects a much younger population. It is 52 years for breast cancer, 54 years for cervical cancer and 59 years for lung cancer,” Madhu Sasidhar, president and chief executive officer, Apollo Hospitals, said.
