Abstract:
Background: India is witnessing a sharp rise in cancer cases (from 1.46 million in 2022 to 1.57 million in 2025), affecting millions of lives across the country. It poses a significant public health challenge and makes it crucial to predict its future trends for effective healthcare planning. The burden of cancer varies widely across regions in India, and understanding the patterns is essential for designing targeted cancer control interventions. Chhattisgarh is one of the poorest states in India, has limited evidence cancer trends and patterns. This study aimed to assess the geographical distribution and the trend and pattern of different types of cancer registered at a tertiary care cancer hospital.
Methods: A retrospective data analysis was carried out from 2019 to August 2026 at Vedanta Medical Research Foundation, Chhattisgarh, India. Medical records of cancer patients were reviewed, including information on diagnosis, primary site, and demographic characteristics. Geographic distribution was then analyzed using QGIS v2.10, and the descriptive data was analyzed using IBM SPSS v26.0 software.
Results: A total of 29,280 cancer cases were registered during the study period. Of these, 14,480 (49.5%) were females and 14,800 (50.5%) were males, with a median age of 52 years (IQR: 41-62 years). The most common cancers were head and neck (6,890; 23.5%), gastrointestinal (5,485; 18.73%), breast (3,924; 13.4%), gynecology related cancer (3,942; 13.46%) and other cancers (4,299; 14.7%) (Which includes bone and articular cartilage, eye, brain and other parts of the CNS, male genital organs, soft tissue, endocrine, urinary tract, and skin). Among females, the leading cancers were gynecological (3,920; 27%) and breast cancer (3,869; 26.7%), whereas in males, head and neck cancers (5,525; 37.3%) and gastrointestinal cancers (3,319; 22.4%) were predominant. With respect to geographical distribution, the majority of cases were from Chhattisgarh (85%), followed by Odisha (5.7%) and Madhya Pradesh (3.9%).
Conclusion: An increasing trend was observed annually in head and neck as well as gastrointestinal cancers. The use of geographic mapping provides valuable insights into regional hotspots, enabling policymakers and healthcare providers to design targeted cancer control strategies, optimize resource allocation, and strengthen early detection and prevention programs in high-risk areas.)
