Breast cancer has become the most common form of cancer among Indian women and the numbers are rising faster than ever before. According to Globocon 2020 data, one woman in India is diagnosed with breast cancer every four minutes and dies from it every eight minutes.
“There are about 1.78 lakh new cases every year,” says Dr Sabine Kapasi, Gynecologist, IVF Specialist, and Global Health Strategist, Advisor at UN. “If the current trend continues, we are likely to see the number cross two lakh by 2030. What’s even more concerning is that many Indian women are getting breast cancer nearly a decade earlier than women in western countries.”
Doctors say this worrying trend shows why women in their 30s and 40s should get checked regularly and know the signs early.
Late diagnosis costing lives
Even though treatments are improving, India’s breast cancer survival rate continues to lag behind richer countries. The reason? Most cases are diagnosed too late.
Nearly six out of ten breast cancer cases in India are detected only when the disease has reached stage three or four, making treatment more complicated and reducing the chances of survival.
“Many women delay going to the doctor because they dismiss early warning signs or wait until the lump grows bigger,” explains Dr Kapasi. “Some are afraid of the diagnosis itself, others are limited by distance, cost, or stigma. By the time they reach a hospital, it’s often too late for early-stage treatment options.”
According to her, this delay is one of the main reasons one out of every two women diagnosed with breast cancer in India does not survive it. “That’s a heartbreaking statistic for a disease that is treatable, even curable, when caught early.”