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CC BY 4.0 · Indian J Med Paediatr Oncol
DOI: 10.1055/s-0045-1811272
Review Article

Role of Nurses in Cancer Education, Screening, and Detection in the Community: Narrative Review Addressing the Existing Lacunae and Scope in India

Manjeshwar S. Baliga 
1   Yenepoya Research Centre, Yenepoya (Deemed to be University), Yenepoya University Campus, University Road, Deralakatte, Karnataka, India
,
Anigrace Kalaimathi
2   Registrar, Tamilnadu Nursing Council, Jayaprakash Narayan Malaigai, Santhome High Road, Mylapore, Chennai, India
,
Nalini S. Jagadeesh
3   Department of Obstetrics Nursing, Sri Ramachandra Institute of Higher Education and Research (DU), Sri Ramachandra Nagar, Porur, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
,
Chandani Ullal
4   Department of Community Medicine, Yenepoya Medical college, Yenepoya University Campus, University Road, Deralakatte, Karnataka, India
,
Antappa G. Rajeev
5   Department of Radiation Oncology, Vishwaradhya Cancer Hospital and Research Institute, Bada Cross, Avaragere, Davanagere, Karnataka, India
,
Abhishek Krishna
6   Department of Radiation Oncology, Kasturba Medical College, Mangalore, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal, India
,
Paul Simon 
6   Department of Radiation Oncology, Kasturba Medical College, Mangalore, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal, India
,
Thomas George
7   Department of Internal Medicine, Coney Island Hospital, 2601 Ocean Pkwy, Brooklyn, New York, USA
,
Princy L. Palatty 
8   Department of Pharmacology, Amrita School of Medicine, Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, Ernakulam, Kerala, India
› Author Affiliations
Funding None.
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Abstract

Across the world, nurses are an important component in both patient and community health care and are excellent ambassadors for community education and awareness endeavors. Cancer is on a rise and creating awareness on the causes, signs, and inculcating the importance on timely detection and accordingly an early treatment-seeking behavior can be very useful in reducing the incidence and can contribute to decreasing the morbidity and mortality associated with the ailment. Effective and correct education play a crucial role in community awareness and nursing interventions in tobacco cessation counselling and cervical cancer screening have been documented from across the world. Efforts to improve the community knowledge, advocacy for cancer screening, and the development of new technologies for cancer screening will allow for improvements in cancer screening over time. This need-of-the-hour narrative review addresses the role nurses can play in cancer education, screening, and detection in the Indian community. In addition to this, the existing lacunae and ways to fill the gap for the betterment of the fraternity and the society at large are also addressed. It is expected that this review, which is the first on the topic from India, will benefit the fraternity and the society at large.

Keywords

cancer awareness - screening - community - education - nurses

Patient Consent

This article is a review of previously published literature and does not involve any studies with human participants or animals conducted by the authors. Hence, patient consent is not required.




Publication History

Article published online:
28 August 2025

© 2025. The Author(s). This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, permitting unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction so long as the original work is properly cited. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

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