City-specific cancer registries are urgently required to study the spread of disease and to formulate strategies to check the same, say leading oncologists in the city.
“At the most basic level, we still do not have city-based cancer registries, and have to rely on statistics gathered in Chennai,” K. Govindaraj, director, Dr. G. Viswanathan Speciality Hospitals and managing trustee, Dr. K. Shantha Breast Cancer Foundation, told The Hindu . “Every city will benefit from its own registry that will help healthcare providers to study the patterns in the spread of the disease.”
With World Cancer Day being observed on February 4, the lifestyle disease has created the need for a more stratified system that works towards pre-emptive screening for new cases and palliative care for the terminally ill.
Figures published online by the National Institute of Cancer Prevention and Research indicate that cancers of oral cavity and lungs in males and cervix and breast in females account for over 50% of all cancer deaths in India.
A 2009 report by the Indian Council for Medical Research estimates around 2.5 million people in the country to be living with cancer. And every year, over 7 lakh new cancer patients are registered.
The statistics are an alarming reminder of why cancer is often called the ‘silent killer.’
“Poor sanitary hygiene is a leading cause of cervical cancer, especially among rural women,” said Dr. Govindaraj. “Girls who are not attending school are at an added disadvantage, because they miss the education on menstrual hygiene given by social organisations.”
In the case of cancers related to men, almost all the causative factors narrow down to tobacco use. “Most of the male cancer patients we see have had tobacco dependency,” he added. A proprietary product that combines betel nut and chewing tobacco, besides snuff powder are also considered to be cancer-causing substances.
Mass screening can be done at a subsidised rate, but this may not be possible when the treatment is more specialised, said Dr. Govindaraj. “You can manage to keep the cost of diagnostic tests for breast and cervical cancer within the range of ₹3,000, but this is impossible for symptom-specific markers,” he said. “In India, socio-economic status plays an important role in access to effective healthcare.”
But he added that compassion for the patient was necessary. “Most of the growth in oncology services is currently oriented towards screening for the disease. We must also create a wider network for palliative care in Tiruchi,” he observed
Harshamitra Super Speciality Cancer Centre & Research Institute is aiming its awareness programmes at the younger generation. Besides competitions for college students that have been held over the past four months, the hospital is also planning to organise a ‘pattimandram’ (debating forum) on cancer awareness on February 4.
“We have to start talking about the subject first, because most people are both ignorant and afraid about cancer. They are reluctant to get tested for cancer, even though early detection improves the chances of treatment,” said G. Govindaraj, surgical oncologist and Managing Director, Harshamitra Super Speciality Cancer Centre & Research Institute.
“Of late, more cases are being reported, possibly because the screening facilities have increased in the city,” he added.
Dr. G. Govindaraj will be delivering a talk on the disease on Rainbow FM radio from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. on Saturday while Sasipriya Govindaraj, radiation oncologist at the centre, will be talking about cancer awareness on Suryan FM from 1 p.m.
