A collaborative research project is underway between the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Guwahati and Indian Institute of Science (IIS), Bangalore into the means by which breast cancer spreads throughout the bloodstream. Research indicates that, by 2020, India could expect to see around 76,000 deaths due to breast cancer per year. These deaths could […]
Cancer
Cancer treatment boon under Ayushman Bharat
PMJAY beneficiaries will be able to avail a more comprehensive package of cancer treatment under Ayushman Bharat. “Treatment for cancer is very expensive. We want to include treatment for all [types] of cancer in our health packages which are cost-effective, proven and beneficial to the patients,” said Dr Indu Bhushan, CEO of the National Health […]
Company makes questionable claim of cancer cure?
Olives are known to be a healthy food. The high concentration of unsaturated fat has been shown in the past to improve cardiac health by moderating cholesterol levels. However, their ability to cure cancer is a far-flung claim that warrants tremendous scrutiny — scrutiny that seems all but absent in media reporting. Rajasthan Olive […]
Cancer rates predicted to rise in EAG states
Cancer rates are predicted to surge in states least economically able to handle the increase, according to a study published in the Journal of Global Oncology. The shift in cancer dynamics is predicted to occur in the Empowered Action Group (EAG) states, including Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, and Uttar Pradesh. The […]
The burden of childhood cancer
Childhood cancer leads to 11.5 million years of healthy life being lost every year, new research published in The Lancet reveals. India ranks among those countries most affected by childhood cancer. The study marks the first time loss of healthy life due to cancer in adolescents and children has been conveyed through disability-adjusted life years […]
HPV vaccination saves lives. As we have been reminded again.
New research confirms again what public health experts have long asserted: vaccination against the human papillomavirus (HPV) is an effective tool in reducing the spread of cervical cancer. For India, the news is important. Given the high death toll of cervical cancer in the country, and stalled efforts to roll out HPV vaccination, the finding […]
World No Tobacco Day: The fight continues
Today marked World No Tobacco Day, but it was not only traditional tobacco products such as cigarettes that were in the firing line. Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot used World No Tobacco Day to issue a ban on electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS), more commonly known as e-cigarettes or ‘vapes’. The devices can no longer be […]
Brain tumours, a new genetic therapy in the works
Survival rates for those with glioblastomas — an aggressive form of brain tumour — in India are dismal. Those who develop them have been documented as surviving, at most, fourteen months. The study presenting these survival rates — conducted by the Institute of Neurosciences based in Gurgaon — appear doubtful that a cure is in […]
India will need 7,300 cancer doctors by 2040 as chemotherapy need and cancer cases rise
By 2040, the number of people living with cancer who require chemotherapy will increase significantly worldwide. The burden will be most pronounced in low- or middle-income countries, including India, home to the third largest number of people living with cancer in the world. “The number of cancer cases necessitating first-line chemotherapy treatment will increase by […]
Delhi extends ban on forms of tobacco
The Delhi government has extended its ban on several forms of tobacco for a year. Cigarettes are still available, but popular alternatives such as gutkha, pan masala, and kharra cannot be manufactured, stored, or sold in the national capital. A notification issued by the Food Safety Commissioner for the National Capital Region said the prohibition […]