admin
- Experts from Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals, Highlight an Exponential Data
- Basis the data from the regular OPD, 2 out 3 women are afraid to visit an oncologist from the fear of undergoing a Chemotherapy
- The delay in visiting the oncologists be it lack of awareness, fear of death and finances account for an 50% increase in the number of patients reporting advanced stages of cancer
India
healthysoch
New Delhi, February 02, 2022:
Experts from Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals, have presented an exponential data of at least 100 women out of 150 women (who presented in the last year) with breast cancer delaying their appointments with an oncologist due to a fear of undergoing Chemotherapy and Covid 19. In a world where technologies have progressed far and wide, fear of undergoing a surgery or a physically straining treatment modality, still disrupts the early diagnosis of cancer. With an already existing burden of undiagnosed cancer patients, the Covid 19 pandemic has further added to the fuel in patients for visiting the hospitals for consulting for non-communicable diseases like cancer.
In women, breast cancer is the most common form of cancer that accounts for almost 26.3% of the entire cancer burden amongst them. Moreover, the fear of being diagnosed with cancer taken as synonymous with death further stops at least 70-80% of women to consult an oncologist on experiencing any kind of known symptoms.
Dr Ramesh Sarin, Senior Consultant, Surgical Oncology, Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals, New Delhi,said “We live in a country where women between the ages of 35-50 years contribute for at least 50% of the total burden of the active breast cancer (our own data of more than 800+ cases from 2007 till 2017,) but still let our fear and hesitancy of undergoing chemotherapy or a surgery of losing a breast come in our ways to consult for a cancer diagnosis.
It has been proven by various medical studies that an early diagnosis of cancer can save up to 90% of lives. As a reason, one should not let one of the treatment modalities decide a decision to consult an expert, it should always be guided by the experienced oncologists. Latest studies are showing that almost 50-60% of a special sub type of breast cancer (HR pos and HER2 Neg) patients can be spared the chemotherapy, if they present early.
Basis our data of OPD visits, it has been summed up that 53% (our data) of cases of breast cancer could have reported early if the patients were aware that it is treatable and curable if they present in early stage 1 or 2 disease without worrying about the course of treatment. Today in breast cancer the medical drugs discovery has advanced so much that women even in their advanced stages of cancer can be managed with medication.
As a reason, any kind of hesitancy, be it fear of undergoing chemotherapy, surgery or being diagnosed with an advanced stage of cancer should be done away with. Cancer, if not curable, can now be managed with various technologically progressed medications and therapies. As a responsible decision maker for our health, we should not let any thought come between our diagnoses.”
If principally, we operate in a pattern that an early detection of cancer can save many lives, we should be saving millions of people we lose to cancer. There are various advantages linked to early cancer detection, be it better treatment outcomes, non-invasive treatment modalities or treating the diagnosed condition without a Chemotherapy. One should be aware towards its own health and be a responsible decision maker.
healthysoch
HealthySoch
