‘Odisha at top in cases of oral cancer’

Sambad English Bureau Published On : Dec 30, 2014 at 1:29 AM

Odisha Sun Times Bureau:
Bhubaneswar, Dec 29:

The incidence of oral cancer is the highest in Odisha among states due to widespread intake of tobacco products in various forms, Dr B K Dash, Director of Utkal Institute of Medical Sciences (UIMS), the only nuclear medicine centre in Odisha, said here on Monday.

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He was speaking to the mediapersons on the sidelines of a workshop on ‘Modern cancer detection and treatment facilities’ organised by UIMS to raise awareness on Positron Emission Tomography (PET) scan that enables early diagnosis of cancer and other conditions.

“Acute lymphocytic leukemia, gastrointestinal tract cancers, and carcinomas of breast, cervix and ovary in females has seen a tremendous rise globally and is one of the leading causes of death” Dr Dash said.

As per an estimate, cancer killed nearly 5.5 lakh people across the country in 2010. The 30-69 age group accounted for 71 per cent of the deaths. It accounted for 8 per cent of the 2.5 million total male deaths and 12 per cent of the 1.6 million total female deaths in this age group.

Many cancer patients can be cured if detected early and appropriate treatment is given in time. UIMS is the first in the state to establish PET-CT scan centre providing a complete nuclear diagnosis of cancer. Earlier, people used to do X-ray, CT scan, MRI and ultrasound tests to detect cancers. These tests do not constitute a complete diagnosis and only work on structural and morphological activity of the cancer cells. But the PET CT scan will work on functional activity of the cancer cells enabling complete diagnosis of the disease, said Dr Dash.

At a cost of Rs 25,000 per diagnosis, PET provides the unique advantage of showing cancer tissue in any part of the body in very early stage. Apart from cancer diagnosis, PET is the only method to assess the functions of different areas of the brain or to image receptors in the brain. For heart patients PET can provide unique information on viability of myocardial tissue to avoid unnecessary bypass surgeries, Dr Dash said.

For the first time in Odisha, Utkal Institute of Medical Sciences (UIMS), Bhubaneswar had commissioned a PET CT scan centre on September 1. More than 300 cancer patients have already been diagnosed.