Life
Bangalore
Chennai
Coimbatore
Delhi
Hyderabad
Thiruvananthapuram
Fighting the cancer menace
Photo: K. Ananthan
It takes a lot of psychological strength to pursue a career as a cancer surgeon in a major hospital. Day after day, there is an endless queue of patients, all of whom need to be comforted that they can successfully overcome the disease. A few kind words from the doctor act as a balm for the anguished souls. Still, patients need a lot of reassurance that the resources of modern science can give them several more years of life.
Cancer specialist Dr. M. Vijayakumar, who is also Professor of Surgical Oncology at the Kidwai Memorial Institute of Oncology in Bangalore, speaks to A. A. Michael Raj, on the various aspects of the disease, and ways to keep it at bay.
MOST PEOPLE, who are faced with the fact that they have been diagnosed as suffering from cancer, refuse outright to accept the medical opinion. In fact, they seem to go through all the stages that bereaved persons normally go through, when mourning the loss of a loved one.
``It first comes as a psychological shock. There is denial and non-acceptance of that fact. Patients say they're absolutely normal, that they can't feel anything wrong. They want a second opinion, and go from one doctor to another in the hope that someone will say that the diagnosis is incorrect,'' says Dr. Vijayakumar.
Soon after, comes the `Why me?' stage, when the patient begins wondering why he or she had become a cancer patient. ``In fact, the more educated the patient, the more problems they face, and the harder it is for them to accept that they have cancer. However, some people cope faster than others, and accept the diagnosis.'' There are many definitions of cancer, but Dr. Vijayakumar says it would be simplest to consider it an "abnormal growth of cells due to unregulated growth of tissues''. Cancer is the result of cells becoming "unruly'', and their growth becoming "autonomous and purposeless''.
In India, the most common cancers among women were cervical cancer and breast cancer, while for men it was head and neck cancer, followed by stomach cancer. Women from the lower economic strata of society quite often fall victim to cervical cancer, the result of lack of personal hygiene. This type of cancer had been associated with one particular virus, known as the "human pappilloma virus''.
``Urbanization has also shown a change in trends. In the cities, there are more cases of breast cancer and fewer cases of cervical cancer.'' It was possible that one of the reasons for the drop in cervical cancer could be the result of an improvement in economic conditions, and consequent increase in the level of awareness among people.
In the West, it had been projected that one in every ten female babies run the risk of contracting breast cancer in their lifespan. However, in India, the lifetime risk in urban centres was "1 in 56'', and "1 in 250'' in rural areas. ``For most cases, we are unable to identify a single causative factor for cancer,'' said Dr. Vijayakumar. "We can't prevent the disease altogether, and there's no vaccine yet. Some cancers were known to be "tobacco induced'', and these types could be prevented by stopping its usage. While it was not possible to carry out "primary prevention'', there were several means to tackle cancers that were "not yet clinically symptomatic'', by asking patients to take a few medical tests.
Screening patients was ideal, for "the earlier we pick up the patient, the easier it is to cure them''. Among medicos, there was a saying: "Cure is a rule if you catch it early, and cure is rare if you catch it late.''
To detect cancers at an early stage and cure them, doctors nowadays recommended that women above the age of 50 should carry out a breast examination themselves every month, go for a physical examination every year, and have a mammography done too.
However, there was no widespread agreement about these screening procedures, not only because of the cost factor, but also because of the advisability of being exposed to X-rays. ``In India, there is no single, organized screening for cancer, and we are left with `opportunistic screening' where we test patients who come in for examination, either because of increased awareness of the disease, or during a hospital visit.''
There was also PAP's test for cervical cancer, which every Indian woman could undergo at least once, after the age of 35. If this was done, at least half the number of cervical cancers could be detected. In the West, women went in for tests from the age of 16 to 18 onwards. "It would be ideal to do it repeatedly, if smears are not normal. Cervical cancer is 100 percent curable, if detected early.''
Send this article to Friends by
E-Mail
Life
Bangalore
Chennai
Coimbatore
Delhi
Hyderabad
Thiruvananthapuram
|
