India reports 1.75 lakh new cases of head & neck cancers every year: Dr Vijay Bansal

Chandigarh, April 11, 2024: Around 30 lakh people in India are suffering from cancer, of which 14 lakh cases are new. Cancer claims 9.10 lakh lives each year in India.

Talking to media here on Thursday Dr. Jatin Sarin, director medical oncology at Ivy Hospital, Mohali said that April month is observed as Head & Neck Cancer Awareness Month worldwide and it’s a form of cancer, which is largely driven by our lifestyle choices & addiction to betel nut-chewing, tobacco and alcohol consumption, maintaining poor oral hygiene.

The gold standard test to diagnose head & neck cancer is diagnosis by tissue biopsy, some under local and some even require general anesthesia. The extent of spread may be detected through imaging such as PET scan or Contrast enhanced MRI, CT scans, he maintained.

Dr Vijay Bansal, Director Surgical Oncology at Ivy Hospital, Mohali said, “ India continued to report the highest prevalence of oral cancers globally with1.75 Lac new cases of such cancers reported every year. Chewing tobacco and gutkha contribute to 90 per cent of oral cancer cases in the country.”

Dr. Bansal also shared that treatment of head & neck cancer involves all the 3 modalities of surgical oncology, medical oncology & radiation oncology.

Head & Neck cancers can originate from pharynx, nasal & paranasal sinus, oral cavities, larynx & salivary glands, said Dr Priyanshu Chaudhry , Consultant Medical Oncology.

Dr Minakshi Mittal, Director Radiation Oncology said , “ The recent advancements have substantially improved treatment outcomes. Radiation therapy involves delivering high energy X Rays to body to kill the cancer cells and disrupting their ability to grow and divide without having untoward side effects on nearby normal organs.”
 
Dr Hemkant Verma, Consultant Surgical Oncology said that Ivy Hospital Mohali is 1st Hospital in tricity to start comprehensive cancer care under one room.