The Hindu : Mobile cancer diagnosis units mooted for rural areas

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Feb 22, 2004

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Visakhapatnam

Mobile cancer diagnosis units mooted for rural areas

By Our Staff Reporter

VISAKHAPATNAM, FEB. 21. Early detection goes a long way in cancer treatment, but this important message has not reached the people according to the noted oncologists, Praful D. Desai and Chitti R. Moorthy. Most Indians approach doctors only in the secondary or tertiary stages of the disease.

The two spoke to reporters, along with other noted radio-oncologists who participated in a conference on cancer (ONCO 2004) organised by the Lions Cancer Hospital here.

Dr. Moorthy, chairman of the radiation oncology and radiation wings of New York Medical College, felt that in the Indian context, instead of people coming down to a major cancer hospital for treatment, it was more productive if a fully equipped medical van went to interior, rural areas not only to aid early detection of cancer and provide treatment but also to create awareness. The help of women's organisations could also be taken in spreading the message about breast cancer, he said. "The message that cancer is not a death sentence should reach the people,'' he said promising to start such a programme here soon.

The five-day treatment method for cancer patients (in preliminary stage) now widely used in the US could be quite effective in India also. In this method the malignant areas in the affected organ is removed, a catheter inserted into the resultant space and radiation given. "It takes about half-an-hour and the patient can get the treatment on her way to office or home. The treatment is given for five days and is most effective,'' Dr. Moorthy said, adding that the instrument could be developed in India to reduce costs.

In advanced countries the concept for the new millennium was to preserve the (cancer-affected) organ and its function for the patients suffering from the primary stage of cancer, he said. This was to ensure that the patient was not denied of his or her livelihood by losing an organ removed due to cancer.

It was also a wrong belief that children suffering from cancer had little survival rate. It was possible that children treated for cancer might develop some deformity when they grew up.

Dr. Desai, a former director of the Tata Cancer Institute in Mumbai said, "sixty per cent of the cancers can be prevented and tobacco and diet habits account for 50 per cent of the cases. Unfortunately the incidence of cancer is on the rise,'' he said.

Though official statistics showed that one million people in the country were cancer-afflicted, he felt that the figure was higher, since not all cancer cases are registered. He put the number at three million.

Dr. Desai, a Padma Bhushan awardee, suggested decentralisation of cancer detection and treatment since the country and its citizens could not afford major cancer hospitals everywhere. Small rural modules must be prepared on the lines of the ones Tata Institute opened in Maharashtra.

According to the medical director of the Lions Cancer Hospital, B. Muralidhara, cervical cancer among women could be prevented by educating women about avoiding early marriage, having fewer children and being hygienic.

A senior oncologist from Mumbai, R. Gopal, expected molecular biology to play a dominant role in finding cancer cures. Another senior medical oncologist from Chennai, S.G. Ramanan, said people were apprehensive about chemotherapy. But it would not cause deformity as feared by patients, thanks to technological advances, he said.

The specialists also examined patients at a super speciality cancer camp organised at the hospital.

Th in-charge of the hospital, V. Umamaheswara Rao, and a surgeon of the hospital, Ananth, were present.

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