State-of-the-art cancer centre in city soon

Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, March 2

Dayanand Medical College and Hospital (DMCH) will announce a state-of-the-art cancer centre in partnership with Hyderabad-based American Oncology Institute (AOI) later this month, which would bring together the extensive healthcare experience of Dayanand Medical College and Hospital, Ludhiana, and the advanced cancer care expertise of AOI under one roof.

Dayanand Medical College and Hospital is collaborating with AOI to establish a comprehensive cancer care centre on the Dayanand Medical College and Hospital campus, Ludhiana, providing American university-level standards of cancer care for the population of Ludhiana and Punjab.

The comprehensive cancer centre will offer an end-to-end cancer care programme including radiation oncology, medical oncology and surgical oncology and is expected to be operational by the second quarter of 2017.

Expert from Pennsylvania highlights  major advances in cancer therapy

Dr Stanley Marks, a veteran in cancer care, visited the city on Thursday. He was in Ludhiana as part of an event organised by Dayanand Medical College and Hospital (DMCH), Ludhiana, and Hyderabad-based American Oncology Institute (AOI), to address doctors in the city of Ludhiana about "Major Advances in Cancer Therapy". On being asked about the root causes of cancer and how it could be prevented, he said: "We know that many cancers are preventable and are caused by identifiable factors such as tobacco products, obesity, infections, diet, smoking and alcohol. There are some cancers that are not related to any environmental factors and are sometimes purely genetic. However, this is only to the extent of about 10% of cancers and most cancers are preventable. Today, we have vaccines to prevent cervical cancer (which is one of the leading cancers among women in India) and liver cancer due to Hepatitis B infection. We strongly believe that prevention and early detection of cancers with screening mechanisms can dramatically improve the outcome of cancer, for patients in India."He said one of the biggest issues facing the world was obesity, adding that obesity was overtaking tobacco as the leading cause of cancer in some countries. The incidence of cancer could be significantly reduced by a decline in obesity, he said. On talking about the challenges that India faces in cancer care, he said: "Early detection of cancers can be done through screening programmes including mammograms, PAP smears, Prostatic Specific Antigen (PSA) and a low dose chest CT scan in case of smokers. These would lead to a reduced incidence of advanced cancer and should significantly improve the cancer related mortality in India." The other challenge, he said, was the availability of high quality cancer care. There was tremendous variability and lack of standardisation among laboratories and treatment protocols. 

Common types of Cancers in India

The most common types of cancer in India in case of women are breast and cervical cancers. In men, it is head and neck cancers and lung cancers. The most successful treatments have been developed for early stage cancers and many of these cancers can be cured with some of the newer agents. Some of the most curable cancers have been blood cancers including childhood leukemia, lymphoma, testicular cancer, Hodgkin's lymphomas and chronic leukemia