Gender Disparities in Cancer Outcomes: A Look at India

Tue Sep 23 2025 10:44:04 GMT+0300 (Eastern European Summer Time)

A recent study reveals that while women in India are more likely to be diagnosed with cancer, men face higher mortality rates. This article explores the factors contributing to this perplexing trend.

In India, the cancer landscape reveals a troubling paradox: women experience higher rates of diagnosis, yet men suffer higher death rates from the disease. This article delves into the latest findings from cancer registries, examining the dynamics behind the increased susceptibility of women to cancer, contrasting with the poor outcomes for men. Contributing factors include lifestyle choices, early diagnosis, and access to healthcare, which collectively shape the country's cancer burden.

Women in India are more likely to get cancer. Men are more likely to die from it.

The paradox, revealed in a study of the country's latest cancer registry, tells a story at once simple and confounding.

Women account for just over half of all new cases, but men make up the majority of deaths.

India appears to be an outlier. In 2022, for every 100,000 people worldwide, on average about 197 were diagnosed with cancer that year. Men fared worse, at 212, compared to 186 for women, according to the World Cancer Research Fund.

Nearly 20 million cancer cases were diagnosed globally in 2022 - about 10.3 million in men and 9.7 million in women. In the US, the estimated lifetime risk of cancer is nearly equal for men and women, according to the American Cancer Society.

In India, the most common cancers among women are breast, cervical, and ovarian. Breast and cervical cancers make up 40% of female cases.

While cervical cancer is largely linked to infections such as human papillomavirus (HPV), breast and ovarian cancers are often influenced by hormonal factors. Rising cases of these hormone-related cancers are also associated with lifestyle shifts - including later pregnancies, reduced breastfeeding, obesity, and sedentary habits.

For men, oral, lung, and prostate cancers dominate. Tobacco drives 40% of preventable cancers, mainly oral and lung.

So what is going on in India? Is it an earlier diagnosis for women? Are men's cancers more aggressive, or is it that habits such as smoking and chewing tobacco drag down their outcomes? Or does the answer lie in differences in access, awareness, and treatment between genders?

Awareness campaigns and improved facilities mean cancers common among women are often detected earlier. With their long latency periods - time between exposure to a cancer-causing factor and the appearance of detectable cancer - treatment outcomes are relatively good. Mortality rates among women are therefore lower.

Men fare worse. Their cancers are more often tied to lifestyle - tobacco and alcohol drive lung and oral cancers, both aggressive and less responsive to treatment.

Women's health has become a bigger focus in public health campaigns, and that's a double-edged sword. Greater awareness and screening mean more cancers are detected early. For men, the conversation rarely goes beyond tobacco and oral cancer, said Ravi Mehrotra, a cancer specialist.

Data from 43 registries indicate that 11 out of every 100 people in India run the risk of developing cancer at some point during their life. An estimated 1.56 million cases and 874,000 deaths are projected for 2024.

The hilly and relatively remote northeast region remains India's cancer hotspot, with lifestyle factors contributing significantly to the elevated cancer risk. Overall, India's cancer burden reflects disparities tied to geography, gender, and access to healthcare, calling for urgent targeted interventions to improve outcomes.