NEW DELHI: Alarmed by the rising number of cases of cancer among young Indians, oncology experts have called for making a separate branch of treatment for cancer among teenagers and young adults. Doctors from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, India's prestigious medical research institute and hospital located in the capital said that both the cancers cannot be dealt in the same way. “This age group is most productive but the progress in treatment is the lowest. We have pediatric oncology to specifically look into cancer among children. But young adults is a left out section,” Dr G K Rath at All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) said. They said the separate group is all the more necessary because younger people have great survival rates and better tolerance to medication. “The amount of dose of drug or radiation in children and older people has to be low because of low tolerance of the body. We have to do this even when we know a little more dose can treat better. Among teenagers and young adults, we face less of this problem,” said Dr Rath. They also said that research needs to be better. India has a high number of cancer patients despite cancer being known as a disease of the rich and the elite. “People between 15-35 years of age in India account for 378 million, which is more than the entire population of the United States. The average life expectancy of five years after treatment among TYA is 40 percent, while in India it is 25 percent,” said Dr Prakash Chitalkar, oncologist at Asian Institute of Medical Sciences (AIMS). Smoking and chewing tobacco is said to be one of the major cause of cancers in India and are well ingrained habits in the Indian population.
