Tobacco addiction is raising squamous cell cancer in India

According to a leading cancer specialist, due to the increasing addiction of tobacco there is a significant rise in the squamous cell cancer, a type of esophageal cancer in India.

"Squamous cell cancer - which is one of the types of esophageal cancer - is rising in India. The main cause of this type of carcinoma is tobacco smoking and heavy alcohol. In India smoking and tobacco usage is at a peak so the cases of squamous carcinoma are also rising," said US-based cancer specialist Tom Ryan DeMeester on Thursday.

The chairman of surgery department in Southern Carolina University said Adenocarcinoma that is present in the glandular cells at the junction of the esophagus and stomach is one of the most common type of cancer prevailing in the US and about 90 percent of the cancer cases in the US are diagnosed as adenocarcinoma.

"The main reason is obesity and gastroesophageal reflux diseases due to acidity," said DeMeester, addressing a programme at Tata Medical Centre here.

Mammen Chandy, the hospital's director, said due to the changing scenario of socio-economic conditions in India, the number of breast cancer cases is also rising rapidly day by day.

"Number of patients reporting breast cancer or its symptoms is steadily rising. A day will come when just like Western countries the number of breast cancer patients will surpass that of cervix cancer. This shift from cervix cancer to breast cancer is due to change of socio-economic conditions in the country," he said.