Is cancer really increasing, or are we just detecting it better? | World Cancer Day 2026

Cancer is one of the leading causes of illness and death worldwide, affecting millions of people each year. Despite major advances in medicine, the disease continues to pose a serious global health challenge, raising important questions about its causes, detection, and prevention.

Every year on World Cancer Day (February 4), a question comes up again and again: Are cancer cases actually rising, or does it only seem that way because we are better at diagnosing it today?

To answer this, Firstpost spoke to Dr. Prahalad Elamarthi, Consultant, Oncologogy at Narayana HealthCity, Bangaluru, who shared his expert inputs on the same.

Cancer cases: A serious rise or a perceived hype?

Dr. Elamarthi says “definitely cancer rates are increasing compared to what we had seen in the previous year.”

More from Lifestyle

Has the standard diabetes test misled millions of diabetes patients in India? What doctors do differently in their own lives to reduce cancer risk

According to him, “we can see like 1 in every 9 people are likely to develop cancer in their lifetime.” He attributes this claim to poor dietary choices and sedentary lifestyle that people in both urban and rural areas experience.

“Especially those who are in villages or backward regions, they don’t have access to proper cancer screening programs which adds to the misery,” he adds.

What do the figures tell us?

India had an estimated ~1.7 million new cancer cases recorded in 2025, according to national registry projections.

As per the data released by the government in 2024, India recorded over 15.3 lakh (1.53 million) new cancer cases, reflecting a steady year‑on‑year rise - which strongly suggests numbers continued to grow into 2025.

Quick Reads

View All

‘When dragons ate the Sun’: The superstitions around a solar eclipse

Inside the world of Chinamaxxing, where Gen Z are ‘becoming Chinese’

India is ranked third highest in total cancer cases globally, after China and the United States, according to cancer burden reports.

Better detection is a big part of the story

Over the last few decades, medical science has made huge advances. Improved screening tools such as mammography, colonoscopy, Pap smears, low-dose CT scans, and blood tests now help doctors detect cancers earlier and more accurately than ever before.

Many cancers that once went unnoticed until very late stages are now caught early, sometimes even before symptoms appear. This naturally increases the number of reported cases, even though the disease may have existed earlier but remained undiagnosed.

Increased awareness also plays a role. People today are more likely to seek medical help for warning signs, and doctors are more vigilant about testing. As a result, cancer is less hidden than it used to be.

Which types of cancer are becoming more common in India?

On asking which types of cancer are becoming more common in India, the expert shares with us that “we are seeing more of cervical cancers and breast cancers cases coming in for women.”

In men, on the other hand, “because of tobacco chewing (including gutka, khaini, etc), oral cavity cancers are most common, followed by lung cancers,” he shares further.

The good picture: Survival is increasing, not worsening

While cancer diagnoses may be rising, there is an important positive trend: survival rates are improving for many cancers. Earlier detection and better treatments - including targeted therapy, immunotherapy, and personalized medicine - mean that many cancers are now manageable or even curable when detected early.

This shift has changed cancer from an automatic death sentence to, in many cases, a chronic or treatable condition.