Head and Neck cancer

India has the highest incidence of Head & Neck cancer in the world. These cancers constitute about 40 – 50% of all cancers in India. 70% of them are tobacco related and hence are totally preventable.

 

These cancers occur in the most exposed and sensitive region of the body and afflict vital organs like voice box, tongue, lining of oral cavity, pharynx, nose, eyes and ears. On an average about 1.5 lakh new patients are diagnosed with Head and Neck cancers every year. Most of these cancers are curable if detected early.

Early Signs and Symptoms of Common Head & Neck Cancers.

• White patch, sore or ulcer in mouth.
• Difficulty or pain during swallowing
• Change of voice
• One sided throat pain
• Unexplained earache
• Chronic cough not responding to medical treatment
• Difficulty in breathing
• Lump in the neck or else where
• Bleeding/ discharge from ear, nose or mouth

Diagnosis

All that is required to diagnose common Head and Neck cancers is good light, an alert mind, an eye for detail and sensitive fingers.Majority of them can be diagnosed by simple clinical examinations alone. Biopsy is performed on OPD basis to obtain histological confirmation. Lumps can be diagnosed by simple fine needle aspiration cytology. 

Treatment options

Head and Neck is the most exposed region of the body, usually associated with image. It is also the most functional region involving vision, smell, and hearing, taste, swallowing and last but not the least the speech. Therefore the treatment must balanced aesthesis, function and control of cancer. Modern cancer treatment aims at maximum functional preservation with optimum cancer control.

Surgery and radiation alone are both effective in early stages, however both surgery and radiation therapy are required to treat advanced cancers. Unfortunately majority of the cases are advanced. In recent times, chemotherapy is being used to potentiate the efficacy of radiation therapy.

With newer advancements in the field of plastic and reconstruction surgery functional and reconstructive surgery is now performed resulting in restoration of vital functions thereby improving the quality of life. Jaw preserving surgery, voice preservation, speech restoration and state-of art micro vascular reconstruction are few of them. Reaching deep seated tumors and sparing the vital structures around it, was always a great challenge to the radiation therapist. Fortunately with newer technology such as the TrueBeam STx, targeted radiation can be delivered to all head and neck cancers within shortest period of time, sparing surrounding healthy tissues. 

Dr. R. P Deo, Head & Neck Onco Surgeon, BGS Global Hospitals

STEREOTACTIC RADIOSURGERY

- Now, a new advancement in Neurosurgery

The understanding and management of brain tumours has improved tremendously in the last two decades. Discovery of cell receptors, crucial enzymes and onco genes has made better understanding of tumour biology. There have been relentless efforts to improve therapeutic options for these tumours and thus resulting in improved surgical therapies, newer drugs and improvements in radiotherapy.

Stereotactic Surgery is a special field of neurosurgery designed to reach the tumour (focal point) in the brain in a minimally invasive way through a keyhole through a safe trajectory with precision. With advances in imaging calculations of X, Y and Z axis,reaching the target has become much more precise.

Delivery of Radiotherapy to these tumours has taken a significant leap forward by combining these two techniques. This has opened a new era of noninvasive neurosurgery called “Stereotactic Radiosurgery”. Here, in radiation beams are delivered through a stereotactic method to the tumour (point of interest) without damaging the surrounding brain or the vital structures. Once the diagnosis of a brain tumour is made with good imaging with the assistance of software and computers, the whole treatment can be planned beforehand like virtual reality - the area to be irradiated, the dose of radiation, the number of beams, directions, size, shape and volume of beams can be planned. Then the dose is calculated and divided between the areas and the beams. The whole planning is done and reconfirmed to ensure safety by the neurosurgeon and the radiotherapist. The patient is then shifted to the TrueBeam STx machine, which delivers the total dose of radiation through a rotating arc in just 3-4 minutes with absolute accuracy, speed and safety. The TrueBeam STx is the world’s most advanced radio therapy machine and technology commissioned for the first time in Asia-Pacific in Bangalore.

The patient is kept under observation for a day and discharged. The patient requires a regular follow up with the neurosurgeon for up to two years.

The indication for this technology and its clinical applications for the brain and spine disorders are rapidly expanding. Now It is the standard of treatment and of choice for vascular malformations of the brain and benign tumours. This is completely noninvasive, no incisions, no ICU stay and a limited hospital stay of 1-2 days only. In addition tumours in critical areas and in complex locations like skull base as well as residual tumours can be e treated effectively. Patients of all age groups can undergo this procedure. It opens a new option for the elderly people as well as those with medical complications who are otherwise not fit for surgery.

BGS Global Hospitals is always committed to provide state of the art care on par with the best international standards at affordable prices by adopting such technology .The Global Hospitals group is further expanding with such installations being made in Chennai and Mumbai in the near future.

Dr. N. K. Venkataramana

Vice-Chairman and Chief Neurosurgeon,

BGS Global Hospitals  Ph : 080 4906 7348/349

An International Symposium on Oncology was organized by BGS Global Hospitals at ITC Windsor on 18 Feb’12. International faculty of repute shared their knowledge and experiences on ‘Newer frontiers in Radiation Oncology’

An International Symposium on Oncology was organized by BGS Global Hospitals at ITC Windsor on 18 Feb’12. International faculty of repute shared their knowledge and experiences on ‘Newer frontiers in Radiation Oncology’.

Welcoming the gathering on the occasion, Dr. K Ravindranath, Chairman and Managing Director, Global Hospitals Group, said, “BGS Global Hospitals offers the most advanced technology TrueBeam Stx which is complimented by a well experienced team of consultants trained to deliver organ specific treatment. The most advanced treatment & technology offered at BGS Global Hospitals is affordable. Subsidized treatment will be provided for needy patients, patients below the poverty line and various scheme patients. One third of the TrueBeam STx machine time will be dedicated to treating those in the lower socioeconomic group.”

Renowned Oncologists, Dr. D Shankar Raj who has been Senior Professor & Chief Radiologist, Victoria Hospital, Bangalore, Principal - Bangalore Medical College and Joint Director, Medical Education Karnatka (Rtd) as well as Prof Chandrashekar, Vice Chancellor of Rajiv Gandhi University of Medical Sciences (Rtd) were felicitated on this occasion for their significant contributions in the field.

Dr. Rolf Staehlin, Director, International Marketing, Varian Medical Systems, Switzerland introduced TrueBeam STx, a radically new system for High Precision Image guided Radiotherapy and Radiosurgery. Prof. Kevin Murphy, Medical Director and Associate Professor, University of California, San Deigo, USA presented on Sreotactic Radiosurgery and Steotactic Body Radiotherapy.

Dr. Carlo Greco, Head of Radiation Oncology, University of Pisa, Italy and Dr. Luca Cozzi, Head of Research, Oncology Institute of Southern Switzerland made presentations on High Dose Single Fraction IGRT with Trubeam STx and ‘From leading technology to Better Outcomes.

Dr. Shyam Kishore Shrivatsava, Dr. Nisar Syed, Dr Gurunath Kilara and Dr. Nirmala S, Chief Radiation Oncologist, BGS Global Hospitals chaired the sessions. The Symposium was well attended by many of the well known Oncologists and Radiation Physicists in the country.

Our Oncology team

Modalities of Treatment available:
• Surgery Surgical Oncology
• Radiation Radiation Oncology
• Chemotherapy Medical Oncology & Bone Marrow Transplantation
• Interventional oncology
• Rehabilitation

BGS GLOBAL HOSPITALS COMMISSIONS THE WORLD’S MOST ADVANCED RADIATION THERAPY TECHNOLOGY FOR CANCER TREATMENT. THE FIRST ‘TRUEBEAM™ STx’ IN ASIA PACIFIC, NOW AT BANGALORE

INTRODUCING INTELLIGENCE IN CANCER TREATMENT

TrueBeamTM STx is admittedly the world's most advanced Linear Accelerator (LINAC) for radiotherapy. The biggest challenge in today's radio oncology is to protect normal cells and tissues from radiation. And no other LINAC in the world does it with as much precision as TrueBeamTM STx. With Asia Pacific's only TrueBeamTM STx machine at BGS Global Cancer Institute, we ensure the most precise radiotherapy. What's more, TrueBeamTM STx can also retain its precision of targeting cancer cells for moving organs, like the lungs and the liver. With any other LINAC, protecting normal cells in such cases is just impossible!