Jaipur, Aug. 12 -- Rajasthan's estimated annual cancer burden has crossed 80,000 cases, rising steadily from 72,825 new cases in 2021 to 80,628 in 2025, according to data from the Centre tabled in the Lok Sabha on August 7. The data was tabled in response to a question raised by Churu MP Rahul Kaswan on the rising burden of cancer and other non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in the country. Kaswan sought a decade-long assessment of the increase in cancer and other NCDs, besides details of screening, diagnostic facilities, treatment infrastructure and availability of specialised medical manpower. In its reply on Friday, the Union health ministry acknowledged the growing burden of NCDs across the country. Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare Prataprao Jadhav said an assessment by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) found that NCDs, including cancer, diabetes and heart disease, accounted for 55.4% of the country's disease burden in 2016, compared with 30.5% in 1990. Rajasthan's cancer estimates reflect the broader trend. The data shows that the number of new cancer cases in the state increased from 72,825 in 2021 to 74,725 in 2022, 76,655 in 2023, 78,604 in 2024 and 80,628 in 2025. This represents an increase of nearly 11% in four years, or around 7,800 additional estimated new cases annually compared with 2021. The rising numbers are also accompanied by concerns over delayed diagnosis, particularly among patients from rural areas. A study of 1,366 histopathologically confirmed cancer patients treated at the National Institute of Medical Sciences and Research in Jaipur between 2021 and 2023 found that 77.45% of the patients came from rural areas. The patients covered in the study came from 23 districts of Rajasthan, including Bikaner, Churu, Hanumangarh, Sri Ganganagar, Nagaur, Sikar, Jodhpur and Kota. The study found a significant difference in the stage at which rural and urban patients reached the tertiary care centre. Stage IV cancer was reported in 56.1% of rural patients, compared with 47.7% of urban patients. Another hospital-based dataset from Bhagwan Mahaveer Cancer Hospital in Jaipur recorded 10,363 cancer diagnoses during 2024. Cancers of the lip, oral cavity and pharynx constituted the largest share, accounting for 26.89% of the diagnoses. They were followed by cancers of the digestive organs at 15.45%, breast cancer at 11.38% and cancers of the respiratory and intrathoracic organs at 10.02%. The data point to the challenges faced by Rajasthan's cancer-care system, with patients from villages and smaller towns increasingly travelling to tertiary cancer centres in Jaipur and other major cities for diagnosis and treatment. A substantial proportion of patients, particularly those from rural areas, appear to be reaching specialised centres only after the disease has progressed to an advanced stage. The state has also been working to strengthen cancer surveillance and generate district-level data on the disease. Cancer was made a notifiable disease in Rajasthan in July 2019. With technical support from ICMR-NCDIR, the health department has been developing the Rajasthan Cancer Atlas to build a more detailed picture of cancer incidence and its geographical distribution across the state. The latest ICMR-NCDIR annual report states that more than 72,000 cancer cases were registered in Rajasthan during 2022-24 through the state's cancer-registration system. The system involves electronic reporting of cancer cases by hospitals and trained personnel. With the estimated annual number of new cases now above 80,000, the state faces increasing demand for screening, early diagnosis, specialised treatment and trained medical manpower....