The Cochin Cancer Research Centre (CCRC) will focus on research in developing indigenous technologies for cancer treatment that would help bring down the cost of cancer care, Dr. Moni K. Abraham Kuriakose, the new director at CCRC who assumed charge on on Monday, has said. “Over 60% of technologies related to cancer treatment are imported. We cannot be laid back in this area”, he said.
He emphasised that the research would not be namesake but a reality with tangible outcomes. The institute would be looking forward to start-ups on cancer research. There were many who had evinced interest in working in this area. Hence, the Cancer Centre, as a greenfield institute, would be able to start with what had been lacking in cancer treatment and technologies so far.
Apart from the machines and buildings, human resource would be be a key element in building up research. Artificial intelligence would also be of importance in the field, he said. Early diagnosis held the key in ensuring better outcomes in almost all cases of cancer, he said. However, it was only in recent times that breast cancer had got the prominence for high cure rate because of early detection. About 80% of the cancers such as head and neck cancers are diagnosed and reached for treatment at the third or fourth stages, said Dr. Kuriakose, who has his expertise in head and neck surgery. About 60% of cervical cancers were detected in the later stages.
The average delay in detecting cancers was three months. Delayed diagnosis was the main reason for poor treatment outcomes, he said. Compliance towards a treatment regimen was a major problem because of lack of access to cancer care. One of the biggest deterrents was the cost. Not just the cost of treatment, but the cost of travel of at least two-three persons to the place of treatment.
These were some of the basic facts that had driven the State government towards integrating cancer care. A person diagnosed with cancer would be directed to take treatment at a place which would have the appropriate facility. In each region, the main centre would train the doctors serving at local centres where cancer treatments could be provided. The cancer care strategy in the State was evolving towards implementing a Cancer Referral Pathway which would be hosted by a digital nerve centre in Thiruvananthapuram, directing every cancer patient in the State’s network to the appropriate centre, said Dr. Kuriakose.
with the CCRC and Malabar Cancer Centre taking up the cases in the region.
In the short term, the CCRC would also begin a cancer registry and draw up a faculty matrix for the institute immediately. It would list out the priorities of the centre for the future as the main building came up in about two years.
Dr. Kuriakose, who hails from Mulanthuruthy near here, has been Professor and Director of Surgical Oncology at the Mazhumdar Shaw Cancer Centre, Narayana Hrudyalaya, Bengaluru, and visiting Professor at Rosewell Park Cancer Institute, Buffalo, New York.
