India is advancing in many different areas at a fast pace when compared to its Western counterparts. India is emerging as a leader in many fields like weapons, technology, education and the most important of these is the area of Health and Medicine. One of the most important and crucial parts of the Indian Medicare system is Cancer. Delhi, the capital of India is a fast-growing hub for cancer Treatment and one can find many Cancer Hospitals in Delhi.
Cancer Research in India
Every year around 10 lakh people are diagnosed with cancer. About 40% of these are children and those below the age of 30 years. It is estimated that around 30% of the people who are diagnosed survive less than 5 years (Source: Economic Times, India). India has rapidly developed its healthcare system to enable more and more patients to access cancer treatment and at an early stage.
Being the national capital, there are a number of cancer hospitals in Delhi as well as research centres to help the nation in countering cancer as a disease. For now only generic research takes place in India with a few cities including Delhi where specialised research for various kinds of Oncology study is done.
Cost of Cancer Treatment in India
India is considered to be one of the best places to treat cancer worldwide. One of the main reasons for this is the availability of resources and the cost competency. India has many good hospitals and numerous students graduating in specialised cancer study every year. This makes India one of the most preferred places for cancer treatment.
With regards to cost, since India has many hospitals and many good doctors to offer, the cost of treatment is much less when compared to Western countries. The major cost for cancer treatment in cancer hospitals would be for medicine and therapy which includes chemotherapy, radiotherapy, immunotherapy and cost of surgeries.
Cancer Treatment Therapies in India
There are various kinds of cancer, each one requiring a set of specific treatments. The treatments could be discussed and decided mutually with the patient and the Oncologist. India has segregated specialists for each kind of cancer ranging from Breast cancer to Blood Cancers.
While the success rates and recovery period for breast cancer and other 1st degree cancers are fast enough, the same is not the case for patients suffering from blood cancers or other major types of cancer. So, based on the severity and the health of the patient, the specialist can go in for either or a combination of the following treatments:
Chemotherapy
Chemotherapy is one of the most vital and almost indispensable procedures in cancer hospitals. Chemotherapy essentially means the use of chemicals or “drugs” to target the cancer cells. There are three reasons to induce chemotherapy to the patients: to cure, to control or to palliate.
- To Cure – Cancer is at an early stage and the chemotherapy is targeted to destroy the cancer cell.
- To control – Cancer has started to spread and it needs to be controlled before being removed from the body. It is usually done to decrease the size of the cancer before being surgically removed
- To palliate – Cancer is in a much advanced state and the patient can only be provided with palliative care so as to make surviving easy (such as pain and nausea).
Immunotherapy
Immunotherapy helps the patient by helping them combat the cancer by improving their immune system. This is a biological therapy, meaning that living biological substances are introduced in the patient’s body to help them fight the cancer causing cells.
The immune system is made up of white blood cells and the lymphatic tissues. In this method the immune system is altered by the research team, by introducing agents to enhance the immunity using the patient’s own immune system or through a donor.
Targeted Therapy
Targeted Therapy helps the patient by targeting the complex protein structure of the cancer cell, analysing the same so as to induce medicine that targets these proteins and curb the spread of the disease. The procedure for this treatment involves a biopsy to study the nature of the protein and DNA that make the cancer cell and introducing a medicine that can effectively counter the same.
These are the few types of therapies predominantly used to cure cancer patients. It is safe to assume that the treatment methods and research for cancer is evolving and many effective methods are adopted by the cancer hospitals in India to tackle cancer.
