Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com
Author: staff

A group of seven leading specialists who have been globe-trotting with a special message — to spread the word on preventing head and neck cancer — stopped by in Mumbai on Monday. The busy doctors, well-known names in the medical world, planned the stopover in the city in October as it coincides with the month in which the Centre’s ban on smoking in public places comes into force.

“If we can prevent people from tobacco use, it will be a bigger advance in the field of head and neck cancer than molecular biology,” said Dr Jatin Shah of the International Federation of Head and Neck Oncologic Societies (IFHNOS) who is spearheading the world tour.

The doctors who have taken five weeks off from work, have already visited seven cities including London, Barcelona, Rome and Moscow and will spend three days in Mumbai during which they will interact with cancer specialists, doctors and medical students. The focus was on exchanging latest treatment modalities and research in the field of head and neck cancer. “There has been significant medical and technological advances in the field. If we could successfully treat two in every four patients of head and neck cancer in the seventies, we can cure three out of four today,” said Dr Shah.

Earlier the diagnosis, better is the chance of treatment, pointed out Dr A K D’cruz of Tata Memorial Hospital. “People should look out for warning signs and consult a doctor within four weeks if there is a patch in the mouth, swelling in the neck or change of voice,” he said. Tobacco users, however should get their mouths examined by a doctor, at least once a year.

The tour helped not just in the exchange of medical knowledge, but helped the doctors pick up the regional differences in cancers too. In India where a large majority of people chew tobacco, the most commonly-seen head and neck cancers are those of the cheek, lower gum and back of the tongue as opposed to the USA and Europe where people are often diagnosed with cancer of the tongue and floor of the mouth.