Alarmed by the preliminary findings of the first house-to-house survey of cancer cases in Punjab, the Centre has decided to allow the state’s proposal for setting up a Population Based Cancer Registry (PBCR) to monitor the actual cancer burden over a period of time and between regions.

To be set up in Bathinda, the area with highest incidence of cancer cases in Punjab, the PBCR’s role would also be to design suitable treatment facilities. The yet-to-be-published cancer survey has shown prevalence of the dreaded disease at 31 cases per lakh of population.

The worst hit is Malwa belt, with Muktsar and Bathinda reporting the maximum incidence of cancer at 75.1 and 75 patients per one lakh population, respectively, more than double the state average. The lowest incidence of 10.8 is in Amritsar, followed by Jalandhar and Mohali at 15.1 and 14.5, respectively.

“We have an increasing evidence of cancer cases in Punjab. It’s the largest state in the country with no registry yet. The system is a must to enable scientific collection, management and analysis of data on persons with malignancies. We are allowing Punjab’s proposal,” Dr GK Rath, the coordinator of National Cancer Registry and chief of Institute Rotary Cancer Hospital at AIIMS, told The Tribune today. He is part of the Indian Council of Medical Research team, which maintains the National Cancer Registry and is responsible for approving new registries across India.

So far, the country has 24 population PBCRs, with all major states except Punjab, Uttarakhand and Goa covered. The Punjab proposal will cost Rs 40 lakh, the amount to be paid by the Center.

“If unexpected trends are observed, causes can be ascertained. PBCRs are the only ways to monitor the effects of preventive measures,” Dr JS Thakur from the WHO’s Non Communicable Diseases Department told TNS. Thakur was part of the PGI, Chandigarh, team that reported DNA damages among Punjab’s people due to cancer, loosely attributed to chemical toxicity of water.