Cancer is the leading cause of death worldwide, accounting for nearly 10 million deaths in 2020 according to the World Health Organization (WHO). India ranks among the highest contributors of cancer patients in Asia. A 2024 study published in The Lancet Regional Health Southeast Asia journal reveals that India registered nearly 12 lakh new cancer cases and 9.3 lakh deaths in 2019, the second highest in Asia.

While there are multiple causes that attribute to the multi-stage development of tumour cells, the incidence of cancer rises dramatically with age, most likely due to a build-up of risks for specific cancers that increase with age. However, the recent announcement of 42-year-old Kate Middleton is an unfortunate reflection of the rising incidence of cancer among people under 50. A study published in the British Medical Journal about early-onset cancers across the world for the period of 1990-2019 showed a surprising 79.1 per cent increase since 1990.