Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Feb 27: Cervical cancer is the top most killer in Indian women, affecting them in the age group of 35 to 64 years. Despite being preventable, cervical cancer continues to be the second most common cancer in women.
This was stated by Dr Rajeev Bedi, Director of Medical Oncology at Fortis Cancer Institute Mohali, while interacting with media persons. He was accompanied by Dr Narendra Bhalla, Senior Consultant, Radiation Therapy, Fortis Cancer Institute, Mohali.
Dr Bedi revealed that women have become more prone to cancer, with the male-female ratio in India changing from 49-51 to 39-61 in the last 10 years. He added that with this paradigm shift, better diagnostic techniques are needed to detect cancer at early stages as well as create awareness among women to give priority to their own health too, besides looking after their families.
He said lack of hygiene, unhealthy lifestyle, environmental pollutants, repeated pregnancies and early marriages are the primary reasons for cancer in women, adding that early diagnosis and proper treatment of cancer patients, coupled with strategies for prevention of the deadly disease can help combat cancer.
Dr Bhalla said that women need radiation techniques that have lesser side-effects and better tolerance like the Image Guided Radiation Therapy (IGRT), Volumetric Arc Therapy (VMAT) and Image Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT) that is available at Fortis Cancer Institute Mohali. Explaining about brachytherapy, Dr Bhalla said that it allows an application to be kept in the uterus which delivers a high dose of radiation. The advantage of brachytherapy is that the radiation dose is limited to the uterus, thereby saving the healthy organs.
He added that Fortis Cancer Institute Mohali has an organ-centric approach to treat tumours. Specialized cancer clinics have been constituted so that patients can benefit from experience and specialization of various surgeons. The comprehensive multidisciplinary expertise available at Fortis Cancer Institute encompasses a variety of sub-specialties.
He added that cancer such as breast, prostate, head and neck, lung, skin, cervix, endometrial, CNS tumors, anorectal, bladder cancers are treated using radiotherapy alone or as principle/combination treatment. He also said that computer assisted 3D planning and IGRT shaped beams are directed from multiple angles to the lesion. This is an advantageous procedure as high conformity decreases risk of injuries to healthy organs, decreases high dose volume and decreases cognitive impact.
Follow our WhatsApp channel