Karnataka logs 2.6 lakh cancer cases in 3 years

Koppal: Cancer is affecting all age groups in Karnataka, with official data showing a rising number of cases among children over the last three years. Health department figures reveal that 5,511 children aged 0–19 years were diagnosed with cancer during screenings in this period, with the average diagnosis rate increasing each year.

According to the National Cancer Registry Programme report, modern lifestyles, poor dietary habits, heredity and unhealthy activities have contributed to the rise in cancer cases. Dr Ishwar Savadi, taluk health officer in Gangavathi, said oral, breast and cervical cancers have emerged as the most common forms, despite the existence of hundreds of cancer types.

Three major health department screening programmes detected 12,583 cancer cases over the last three years, including 6,532 oral, 2,611 breast and 3,440 cervical cancer cases. The state’s cancer burden rose from 86,563 cases in 2023 to 87,855 in 2024 and 89,165 in 2025. Karnataka reported 2,63,583 new cancer cases during the three-year period, affecting people from children to the elderly.

Among children, leukaemia accounted for 30–35% of cases, while brain and nerve cancers constituted 20–25%. The remaining cases included lymphoma, neuroblastoma, and bone and kidney cancers. Experts have primarily linked the rise in childhood cancers to genetic and prenatal factors. Medical reports cite the transfer of cancer cells from mother to child and radiation exposure during pregnancy as possible contributors.

The report also noted that unapproved artificial colours used in popular fast foods were last year found to be directly linked to cancer, prompting the govt to ban such toxic substances. Dr Vijayanath Itagi, director of KIMS, Koppal, said a Cancer Day Care Centre has been set up at the District Teaching Hospital under govt directives, with specialist doctors providing treatment and chemotherapy three days a week.

The govt has ordered the expansion of cancer treatment units beyond Bengaluru and Hubballi, with Cancer Day Care Chemotherapy centres established in district hospitals across 16 districts for early-stage patients. It has also approved a special budget for a modern cancer hospital at Munirabad in Koppal district, which will cater to patients from Koppal, Vijayanagara and Ballari districts. As the figures cover only govt hospitals and exclude private healthcare facilities, the actual number of cases could be significantly higher.