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World Cancer Day 2022: 60% Enhancement Due to Bad AQI in Bladder and Lung Cancer

Polluted air will only increase the number of cancer cases. According to a new Lancet research, pollution across India has resulted in an upsurge in diseases such as lung cancer. Between 2010 to 2019, the number of cases within the country climbed at a 5% yearly pace. Ovarian and Thyroid cancers are about 100 percent curable; pancreatic cancer is not.

“Bad AQI in metro cities has enhanced the problem. Cancer treatment has always posed a challenge, but bad air has increased the chances of fatality in a patient by over 80 percent. It has also had an adverse effect on the number of new cancer cases. It’s difficult to give an absolute number at this stage. Still, I would say bad air results in an almost 60 percent chance of you developing cancer,” said Dr Hrishikesh Solanki, an Oncologist at Hinduja Hospital within Mumbai.

Dr. Moushumi’s Suryavanshi, the director of Molecular Diagnostics at Rajiv Cancer Institute & Research Centre, explains that cancer is still on the rise for numerous causes, despite advances in medical and surgical procedures.

“It can be due to dietary reasons, genetics, smoking, obesity, and even environmental reasons. When we say environmental pollution, it could mean many things; air pollution is one of them. There has been researching done on the impact of environmental pollution on cancer and we do see a very clear link between the two. But in the medical fraternity, we don’t just label it as air pollution. We have noticed that many benzene enzymes present in the air cause lung or bladder cancer. Benzene is seen when the quality of air is between the bad-worse category. We look at what kind of chemicals are there in the pollution causing cancer,” Suryavanshi explains.

“Benzene exposure is inviting trouble. Most of our research has pointed out that in areas that had an AQI over 50, the benzene level was quite high. But it is not monitored anywhere in India,” said Solanki.

The best part is that more individuals than before are fighting cancer. Timely identification is crucial because it allows patients to undergo therapy whenever there is a greater likelihood of a complete recovery.

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