Healthy people found with lung anomalies may develop into cancer

Out of 3,500 healthy people who underwent preventive health screening in the last 12 months at NURA, about 4-5% were found with suspicious anomalies in the lungs that should be investigated by a pulmonologist to rule out lung cancer.

- Dr. Tausif Ahmed Thangalvadi

In many cases, these anomalies, though small, can grow into cancer in a few years. Lung cancer is the most fatal cancer in the world, causing much higher number of deaths than any other cancer. Detection in early stages can enormously increase survival chances of patients. In Japan, where health screening begins at an early age, lung cancer survival rate is 33%, compared to only 4% in India, as per data from OECD.

About 18 lakh people die of lung cancer every year worldwide, even as 22 lakh new cases are detected. In India, lung cancer constitutes 6.9% of all new cancer cases and 9.3% of all cancer-related deaths in both sexes. The incidence is highest between the ages of 55-70 years, with incidence in males 4.5 times higher than in females.