With Meghalaya and the wider North East having some of the highest incidences of cancer in the country, NEIGRIHMS has encouraged the public to undergo cancer screening in order to catch the disease early, which gives patients the best chance of beating it as well as being less expensive than giving a chance for the tumour to develop.
The central government-run medical institution offers cancer screening on Tuesdays and Saturdays from 9am to 2pm and from 9am to 11am respectively at the NEIGRIHMS Surgical Oncology OPD. More information can be found by calling or messaging 8787636984.
According to NEIGRIHMS, Meghalaya ranks first in the number of esophageal (food pipe) cancer cases in the country with 10 times the national average. Papum Pare district in Arunachal Pradesh leads the nation in liver cancer cases. Kamrup district in Assam records the highest number of oral cancer cases. Mizoram reports the highest number of stomach cancer cases and Nagaland has the highest number of nasopharyngeal (nose and pharynx) cancer cases in India.
According to the report published by Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) in 2017, the number of cancer cases is higher and survival rates lower in the North East as compared to the rest of India.
“The diagnosis of cancer usually scares many people since the treatment is usually very intense, affecting the patient physically, mentally as well as financially,” an information poster promoting screening by NEIGRIHMS reads . “However, if cancer is detected early the treatment is much simpler, eg, a patient in the early stage of oral cancer can be treated with only surgery but as the stage progresses the patient may require surgery, radiotherapy as well as chemotherapy. Therefore, if cancer is detected early, the patient may live longer, without suffering from the harmful effects of treatment.”
Cancer screening is thus different from early diagnosis in that screening involves testing healthy individuals to identify cancer before symptoms appear, whereas early detection is after the patient develops symptoms.
Screening is a must for people who lead unhealthy lives by consuming betel nut, tobacco, excessive alcohol, a poor diet or who have multiple sexual partners. Certain cancers are also more common in older age groups and those who have close relatives with cancer are also at higher risk and should therefore be screened.
