KARACHI, Dec 21: A considerable increase in new cancer cases has been detected. Now, on an average, between 200,000 and 250,000 new cases are detected every year.

A big proportion, about 50 per cent, of the cancer cases are tobacco-related. It follows then that an integrated awareness campaign must be launched so that cancer cases, being untreatable in advance stages, are diagnosed early.

According to the organizers of a conference, there are increases in both occurrence and detection. Similarly, facilities for treatment of cancer cases are also improving.

For instance, the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission alone has established 12 centres where cancer cases are dealt with. Both the private and public sectors are now better equipped to deal with the problem, which threatens to assume alarming proportions.

There’s no cause for celebrations, though. Pakistan has yet to go a long way. But giant strides can be made in the area, said the organizers.

Cancer is still largely uncurable. But in the developed world the problem has been contained mainly because most cases are detected early. In the developing world, including Pakistan, the situation is dismal simply because cancer cases aren’t detected early on.

In the developed world one-third of the cases are detected early and one-third are treated. The rest of the cases have fifty-fifty chances.

An important issue is that of preventable and non-preventable cases. A big proportion of cases in Pakistan are preventable. For example, tobacco-related cancer cases can be checked if most people stop smoking or consuming excessive amounts of paan.

They pointed out that creating awareness about the causes of cancer is not an easy proposition. Low literacy rate and unhealthy habits are fuelling cancers. Then people are not aware of the signs and symptoms of cancer.

The organizers of the Ninth Annual Cancer Conference claimed that considerable progress had been made vis-a-vis awareness about cancers. In response to a question, they said it was difficult to lay hands upon reliable data.

This was one reason why not enough progress had been made on the issue.