Doctors bust cancer myths to create awareness

Chennai: ‘Cancer is contagious’ and ‘cancer is incurable’ are just two among many myths that continue to exist in the society today. On World Cancer Day, doctors urge for increased awareness against such myths.

“Cancer is never communicable. If the public recognises this fact, family members and friends of patients will definitely support him or her. Also, the myth that a patient’s cancer will get aggravated when he or she goes for treatment is very wrong. One must go to a proper comprehensive cancer care centre for the right kind of treatment. The notion that cancer treatment is more troublesome than cancer itself is also far from the truth,” said Dr Raja Sundaram, Director – Gleneagles Global Institute of Oncology, Gleneagles Global Health City, on the sidelines of a World Cancer Day meet on Saturday.

“Nowadays, a surgery is very sophisticated. All sorts of technologies have been introduced to ensure that the patient does not have any pain, even if it is a major surgery. We have gone way ahead in terms of cancer treatment,” he added.
Despite awareness on the importance of early diagnosis, the burden of cancer continues to be very high. “The way the message is put across makes a difference. We are looking at the ‘Unwait Philosophy’, wherein, we try to ensure that the delay at all stages are avoided so that treatment is given at an early stage,” he added.

Stating that there is a delay at almost every stage, the doctor said that initially, the patient delays for some time, then the general practitioner also does. The diagnostic tests too get delayed. In order to avoid such delays, the patient could be taken for a comprehensive cancer care treatment right away. “Every time patients have to wait, they get stressed. The waiting period should be as minimal as possible as it is the most painful time for the patient,” he added.