Cancer care needs a revisit: Top oncologist

Anshita Mehra

New Delhi, October 4

India’s leading surgical oncologist Indraneel Mittra on Wednesday expressed concern over lowering public faith in doctors worldwide and called for measures to restore the faith.

Mittra, Dr Ernest Borges Chair in Translational Research and Professor Emeritus, Surgical Oncology, at Tata Memorial Centre, Mumbai, was speaking at the Research Day event of Ganga Ram Hospital, which showcased several medical innovations on the occasion that was attended by top medical experts from across the country.

Mittra’s insightful revisit to Thomas Kuhn’s ‘The Structure of Scientific Revolutions’ added intellectual depth to the proceedings. He shed light on the rise and fall of modern medicine, expressing concern over declining public faith in doctors worldwide.

Mittra spoke of the influence of physics on 20th-century medicine and the journey of biology in emulating physics, providing insights that the gathering applauded.

Mittra said perhaps the paradigm to cancer care is wrong. He talked about how the fight against cancer had been going on for more than 100 years, yet the medicines failed the patients and posed searching questions as to what needs to be done right.

“Perhaps the paradigm is wrong. Cancer does not need to be killed, it can be healed instead. We are working on the evidence that cancer can be healed with human trials,” he said, sharing a 2-year association with Ganga Ram Hospital (2007-2009).

It can be healed

Perhaps the paradigm is wrong. Cancer does not need to be killed, it can be healed instead. We are working on the evidence that cancer can be healed with human trials. — Indraneel Mittra, surgical oncologist