Over 3,400 new cancer patients are treated every year at Regional Cancer Centre (RCC), JIPMER, according to Dr K S Reddy, director of RCC.
Speaking at the Continuing Medical Education (CME) programme on ‘lung cancer’ at JIPMER on Saturday, Reddy said the treatment of lung cancer has many challenges in India as most of the patients with full blown symptoms of the disease have unsuccessfully been treated for tuberculosis or chronic respiratory disorders for many months.
“On an average, about 75 to 80 per cent of the patients in India are in the third or fourth stage when they come for treatment. Therefore, it is important to recognise and diagnose lung cancer early. In the western countries where 40 per cent of the patients are detected in stage one or two while in India the rate of early detection is 15 to 20 per cent,” said Reddy.
Delegates who participated in the CME include doctors from JIPMER and other medical colleges.