Barely any cancer screening in Telangana: Only 0.3% women have undergone breast examination, shows ICMR-NCDIR report

Cancer screening coverage in Telangana remains critically low, with just 0.3% of women aged 30 to 49 having ever undergone a breast examination, according to the Telangana Cancer Burden Profile 2026 released by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) through its National Centre for Disease Informatics and Research (NCDIR).

The findings are based on data collected under the National Cancer Registry Programme (NCRP), which compiles information from the Population-Based Cancer Registry located at Nizam’s Institute of Medical Sciences (NIMS), Hyderabad, and 10 additional Hospital Based Cancer Registries (HBCR) in Telangana.

The report reveals that only 3.3% of women in the same age group have ever undergone a screening test for cervical cancer, while 2.5% have been screened for oral cancer. Among men aged 30-49, just 2.6% have undergone an oral cavity examination.

These findings come amid a growing cancer burden in the State. Based on projections, Telangana is expected to record 21,252 new cancer cases among men and 25,510 among women in 2026. By 2030, the number is estimated to increase to 21,473 cases in men and 25,841 in women.

Data also shows that women already bear a higher cancer burden. The average annual number of new cases stood at 2,423 among women compared to 1,883 among men. The crude incidence rate was also higher among women at 183.8 per 100,000 population, compared to 141.9 among men. The cumulative risk of developing cancer between the ages of 0 and 74 is estimated at 1 in 6 for women and 1 in 8 for men.

Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women in Telangana, accounting for 36.2% of all cases. It is followed by cancers of the cervix uteri (8.1%), ovary (6.6%), corpus uteri (5.3%), and oral cavity (5.2%). Among men, oral cavity cancer is the leading site at 21.7%, followed by lung (10.5%), colorectum (7.9%), prostate (6.1%), and stomach (5.7%). The report also highlights the role of tobacco in the cancer burden. Tobacco-related cancers account for 58.8% of all cancers among men and 29.7% among women.

In children aged 0 to 19 years, the State is projected to record 628 cancer cases among boys and 571 among girls in 2026, rising to 638 and 578 respectively by 2030. Lymphoid leukaemia is the most common childhood cancer. The overall cancer burden, measured in disability-adjusted life years (DALYs), stands at 1,979 per 100,000 population in Telangana, with a higher burden among females (2,212) compared to males (1,766).