The epidemic of oral cancer in India continues unabated: need for new policy initiatives

[Extract] The Indian sub-continent remains the global epicentre of oral cancer, first described in Sushruta Samhita, a Sanskrit treatise of ~600 B.C. The burden: incidence, mortality, survival; disease determinants and stretched healthcare resources are under-appreciated. Approximately 70,000 cases and >48,000 oral cancer-related deaths occur yearly. Cases [ICD10, C00–08] are predicted to be ~103,000 pa by 2020. This is the second-most common malignancy in men: fourth in women; many go unrecorded and/or are lost to follow-up