War against cancer

Dr Shabad Angurana
During this journey of being called a Cancer specialist it often makes you to travel on long road of battle against a disease where chosen few doctors stumbles upon with responsibility of treating a disease which transforms a healthy and devout person to suddenly vulnerable ailing human being. In modern time where medical sciences has progressed beyond our wildest imagination -even treating disease that were once deemed incurable, there remains still the scaffolding impressions of many unanswered questions which haunts the life of modern cancer patients and tortures the mind, like why cancer ? What disease it is? What are chances of treatment? Will I be able to beat the odd and return triumphantly in this combat against cancer , and as a part of cancer awareness among the masses, I thought maybe this small article can answer many unanswered myths about cancer and help us to step up, the long ongoing war and hunting against this dreaded disease cancer, which still hunts and haunts many lives.
What is cancer?
Cancer is the name given to a collection of related diseases that are caused when a group of normal body cells become abnormal and begins to grow uncontrollably and are able to invade other tissues. It can affect almost any part of the body. Cancer is a leading cause of death worldwide and accounted for 7.6 million deaths (around 13% of all deaths) in 2008 which was first registered statistics of Global Cancer GLOBOCON 2008. India has a rapidly growing population inflicted with cancer diagnosis. From an incidence of 1.45 million cases in 2016 as registered cases , the cancer incidence is expected to reach 1.75 million cases in 2020.These estimates are by India’s National Cancer RegistryProgram (NCRP), where 1.45 million cases occurred in 2016 with 0.74 million deaths in India, that is approximately fifty percent of patients will die because of the cancer. This is expected to rise to 1.75 million cases and 0.88 million deaths in 2020 . Thus Risk of dying from cancer before the age of 75 years is 7.34% in males and 6.28% in female or if we say simply one in 8 men and one in 9 women are expected to suffer from cancer in their lifetime (considering a median life expectancy of 74 years).
Why cancer in unbeatable in India ?
Cancer is notoriously stealthy disease, but in Indian scenario,ignorance and denial leads to delayed diagnosis and treatment of disease. Often in practice we see most of patients change doctors or run for 2nd opinion when asked to go in for a screening for basic diagnosis of cancer because of fear of invasive treatment, disfigurement and financial burden. In a typical Indian mindset from decades we have seen the ill-placed belief that a cancer patient is bound to die without going in detail discussion with doctor and then there are always some alternative treatments which prolongs the period and leaves the cancer patients, at a point of no return and fight against disease is over.
What can stop cancer?
We can simply stop means prevent cancer with certain choices in life, if I give some statistics, 33% of cancer diagnoses are cause by tobacco use. Tobacco use is a risk factor for 14 types of cancer, says the Lancet report. The other equally worrying triggers, include alcohol and drug use and poor unhealthy diet. It adds that unsafe sex is the main risk factor for cervical cancer, which is the second most common cancer type in women. The high incidence of lung cancer is attributed to tobacco use and air pollution and approximately 20 % of cancer in Indiaare occurring in individuals who are obese or overweight.
Combating cancer together
Always remember apart from internal factors which are non modifiable like genetic, hormonal and poor immune conditions/diseases, where we don’t have control , external or environmental factors which can be modified and depends upon individuals like food habits, industrialisation, pollution and lifestyle can also cause cancer. So any changes observed in body which seems irregular can be monitored and checked . Also as an individual we should take the responsibility of our near and dear ones who some times are scared, and help to get them checked periodically however reluctant they may be.
Simple screening tests like PAP SMEAR for cervical cancer, Mammography and Clinical breast examination for breast cancer, Colonoscopy for intestine cancer, blood test Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA) for prostate cancer and Low Dose CT scan for lung cancer detection, can lead to early detection and curability of cancer. hence in case of cancer always remember “early detection is the best protection”.
Making changes in our lifestyle such as eating a healthy diet rich in fruits, green leafy vegetables and getting regular exercise everyday, is an important step towards cancer prevention and it has been proved scientifically and with lots of data collected world over that cancer can be prevented in 33percent of the general population. Symptoms of Cancer are:
In case of any sudden changes consult a doctor believe on advances in medical sciences in case of detection of cancer, as disease is not as deadly as it was a decade back and always remember this mantra”Cancer is difficult to beat but it’s not impossible to treat”. India is a nation where cancer epidemic is haunting the whole country, all we need is to arm ourselves with knowledge and believe in the advancement in science and the expertise. As a Cancer Expert I can say that the future of the battle against cancer depends upon our awareness about our body on day to day basis, and the necessary lifestyle changes we need to make. Instead of hunter in form of cancer coming down and taking you by surprise! Let’s Hunt the Hunter together with the state of art weapons gifted to us by our early awareness, and choices in sync with miracles and magic of advances in medicine. So I wish you all those who are reading this article, a healthy and cancer free life and recommitting myself to stepping up the war against cancer .
(The author is Associate Prof. GMC Jammu)
feedbackexcelsior@gmail.com

Follow our WhatsApp channel