A few decades ago, colorectal cancers were uncommon. However, their incidence is on the rise in the country, and doctors are increasingly beginning to see cases among young people, said experts.
At the launch of a comprehensive colorectal clinic at Fortis Malar Hospital, Deepak Subramanian, consultant, minimal access and bariatric surgery, said young patients with colorectal cancers often came in late and had more aggressive forms of the cancer. “Changing food habits in India with low fibre, high fat diets and high red meat consumption may all have led to the increasing incidence. Positive food changes in young adults could help bring the number of cases down,” he said.
The need for screening and prevention was highlighted by Prof. Joel Leroy, co-director, EITS/IRCAD, France, a reference training centre in minimally invasive surgery. “We are constantly trying to develop surgery techniques that are less invasive and this is possible because of increased screening of patients and cases coming in early,” he said, adding that a clinic such as this one would help both prevent and treat colorectal cancers.
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C. Palanivelu, chairman, GEM Hospitals and Research Centre, Coimbatore, said colorectal cancers were completely curable in the early stages and with improved techniques, the approach to surgery had now changed. The clinic, Dr. Subramanian said, would focus on preventive and screening programmes and apart from cancers, would also treat other common diseases such as inflammatory bowel disease, haemorrhoids and others.