Nuclear medicine making huge contribution to cancer treatment: Expert
Dec 16, 2023
New Delhi [India], December 16 : Delhi's All India Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS) is earning laurels for the treatment of cancer.
Dr C S Bal, HOD, Department of Nuclear Medicine at AIIMS Hospital in Delhi, said that treatment of patients in the last i.e. fourth stage of 5 types of cancer is possible with nuclear medicine. For the treatment of cancer, a treatment called Alpha Therapy is being done in Nuclear Medicine, which is 20 times more effective than the most popular Beta Therapy.
The doctor said that in this therapy, the medicine is delivered to the patient's veins through injection, after which the tumour can be destroyed through this medicine.
Dr. Bal said that when any cancer reaches its last stage, there are very few options left in medical science for its treatment, but nuclear medicine is making a huge contribution to it. Nuclear medicine is effective for patients in the last stage of five types of cancer, which include prostate cancer, breast cancer, neuroendocrine cancer, thyroid and pancreatic cancer.
The doctor said that the Nuclear Medicine Department has treated around 12,000 patients with thyroid cancer, who were in the last stage. Apart from this, 300 patients with prostate cancer have been treated, out of which 56 patients were treated through alpha therapy. At the same time, 300 to 400 patients suffering from neuroendocrine cancer were treated in nuclear medicine, out of which 91 patients were treated through alpha therapy.
The head of the Nuclear Department said that some cancers or final-stage cancers cannot be eliminated. But this is possible through treatment, and with proper treatment, the lifespan of a cancer patient can be extended by a few years. It is common for thyroid cancer patients to survive for 40 to 50 years with treatment.
Throwing light on the risk of G Cancer, he said, "The Nuclear Medicine Department of AIIMS provides treatment for five types of cancer, however, at present, the risk of G cancer is seen the highest, especially in a city like the capital Delhi because the problem of pollution remains here all the time. And this pollution has a very fatal effect on our lungs. Experts also believe that it can even cause cancer".
Currently, treatment is not possible in nuclear medicine when lung cancer reaches the fourth stage, Dr Bal said.
"However, doctors in Germany are researching this, soon it will be possible to treat even the last stage of lung cancer", he added.
Along with this, the head of the Nuclear Medicine Department of AIIMS Hospital said that the work being done for the treatment of patients in the fourth stage of a disease like cancer is amazing.
Medical General has also published on its cover page information about the cancer treatment being done by the Nuclear Medicine Department of AIIMS. Countries like America are also starting the third phase trial of this technology. Not only this, 10 patients from America have received cancer treatment at AIIMS in the last three months.
