THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Immunotherapy, a treatment method designed to boost body’s natural defences to fight cancer, has generated a lot of interest in the field of oncology and has found acceptance in India as well, according to internationally-renowned cancer care researcher David Kerr.
“Immunotherapy was a big scientific breakthrough of the previous year. There are two approved immunotherapy drugs in the West which have undergone a lot of clinical trials. These drugs are used to treat lung and skin cancer,” Kerr said.
Kerr, who attended an international seminar on cancer treatment in Hyderabad recently said majority of presentations made by Indian doctors at the seminar centered on immunotherapy. “Such drugs are also being used in couple of Indian centres to treat patients suffering from advanced stages of cancer. Since it is a very expensive treatment, there should be efforts to make it affordable,” he added.
Kerr, Professor of Cancer Medicine at University of Oxford and health advisor to UK Prime Minster David Cameron was at SUT Hospital here as part of a tie-up between the hospital and the Cancer Care Foundation in the UK. The partnership would result in the setting up of an advanced cancer care centre at SUT later this year.
Stressing on the importance of undergoing screening to detect cancer at an early stage, Kerr said it should be a ‘continuous process’. “Killing a cancer mass the size of a thumb is easier than killing a tumor the size of a watermelon. Screening is all about detecting cancer at the right stage so that it can be removed without complications,” he added.
According to Sudhakar Jayaram, managing director and CEO of SUT Hospital, the motto of the upcoming cancer care centre will be ‘together we can beat cancer.’
“By together, we mean the the patient, the care-giver, the family and from our end, two strong pillars. The surgeon, pathologist, radiologist, pharmacist and chemotherapeutic nurse on the one side and the psychologist, counsellor, dietician and therapist on the other. It is basically a group approach,” he added.