A comparative analysis of the burden of lip and oral cavity cancers in the Indian subcontinent.

Introduction: Lip and oral cavity cancers are among the top 10 cancer causes and mortality globally. Some countries in the Indian subcontinent bear a disproportionately higher burden of lip and oral cavity cancers. Detailed analysis of lip and oral cavity cancers in the Indian subcontinent using all available data is important for effective policy planning. This paper aims to summarise the total burden of lip and oral cavity cancer and compare it across countries within the Indian subcontinent.

Materials and methods: Data from the Global Cancer Observatory (GCO) and Global Burden of Disease (GBD) Study were extracted to analyse cancer incidence, prevalence, mortality and cancer risk before reaching 74 years. Furthermore, summary estimates of years of life lost (YLL), years lived with disability (YLDs) and disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) attributable to lip and oral cavity cancers were extracted from the GBD database. The data of individual countries within the Indian subcontinent were used for comparison.

Results: The estimated number of deaths from lip and oral cavity cancers for 2019 was 90732 in the Indian subcontinent. The Indian subcontinent accounted for 45.3% of the deaths attributable to lip and oral cavity cancers. The incidence of lip and oral cavity cancers in the Indian subcontinent ranged from 3.18 per 100,000 population in Maldives to 12.76 per 100,000 population in Pakistan. The incidence rate of lip and oral cavity cancer in India was 7.54 per 100,000 population. However, due to the population size, India accounted for 104837 incident cases of lip and oral cavity cancers annually. The estimated number of prevalent and incident cases of lip and oral cavity cancers from the Indian subcontinent in 2019 was 0.46 million (30% of overall cases globally) and 0.15 million (39% of incident cases globally), respectively. The Indian subcontinent also accounted for 50% of the DALYs attributable to lip and oral cavity cancers worldwide.

Discussion and conclusion: The Indian subcontinent accounts for disproportionately higher cases and deaths due to lip and oral cavity cancers than other regions. It calls for urgent policy action to prevent the disease spread, early diagnosis and optimal management of lip and oral cavity cancers in the Indian subcontinent.