The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : ‘Ignorance reason for rise in cancer patients number’

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Monday, Jul 28, 2008
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

‘Ignorance reason for rise in cancer patients number’

Staff Reporter

Workshop on surgical oncology held at GGH

Lung, breast, throat and cervical cancers are common in India
A permanent exhibition on types of cancers set up

Kakinada: The number of cancer patients in India is increasing at the rate of 100 persons for every 1,00,000 population each year largely due to ignorance that most types of the disease are curable if detected at early stages.

Today, minimum invasive surgeries made things easy for the doctors and patients too as their bodies are no longer required to be opened up unlike in the past when the affected organs had to be removed.

But for factors beyond one’s control, like the biological processes which cannot be meddled, best results can be achieved in treating the varied forms of cancer, said Dr. M Srinivasulu of MNJ Institute of Oncology, Hyderabad.

Addressing a workshop on surgical oncology at the Government General Hospital here on Sunday, Dr. Srinivasulu said that lung, breast, throat and cervical cancers were common in India but people tend to take the symptoms lightly and consult doctors at advanced stages of the disease when irreparable damage has already been done.

Precautions

People have to take proper precautions, which include undergoing regular medical examinations and changing the lifestyles.

Consumption of junk food, for instance, was found to be a major cause of cancerous growths in the digestive system.

Research

Worldwide a lot of research is being done into the causes of cancer and treatment options but it is up to the people to be aware of their vulnerability to the disease.

As part of its social responsibility, the MNJ Institute of Oncology has put up on its premises a permanent exhibition on various types of cancers to create public awareness.

Programmes like the present workshops would contribute their mite in preventing the disease.

GGH doctors D Mohan Rao, K Babji, Mahalakshmi, Narasimham and Pratap were present.

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