Cancer specialists warns against distraction from medical treatment

Jan 14, 2018 News

“If you haven’t tried it, don’t knock it.” This has been a statement often used by people who have tried something, believe in it and would like others to respect that until they can offer and informed differing opinion.
But there just might be a thin line or a glaring gap in utilising an alternative to proven medical care. This notion was recently amplified when officials of the Guyana Cancer Institute spoke of cancer cases that might have progressed because early medical care was not sought.
This is particularly troubling to the officials since early detection of this disease could see it being cured thus allowing for a life to be saved.
The officials were at the time addressing the state of cervical cancer in Guyana. They pointed out that while earnest efforts are being continually made to combat cancer, these efforts are sometimes considerably undermined.
This state of affairs was recently amplified by Medical Director and Consultant Oncologist at the Cancer Institute, Dr. Sayan Chakraborty. “The problem with the cervical cancer lies with the misinformation or the ignorance regarding the diagnosis and the treatment of the disease,” Dr. Chakraborty said.
For this reason, he said that a number of patients he has seen over the years have turned up for medical care when they are at an advanced stage.
According to Outreach Director, Dr. Syed Ghazi he has been involved in the Cancer Institute since its inception and from that point he noted that far too many women were presenting with stages three and four cancer. But very little can be done at such advance stages, he noted. He added that while an increasing number of women are even seeking to be screened because of ongoing awareness campaigns, there are still a few who are in denial.
According to Dr. Ghazi oftentimes some patients are guilty of not even taking the signs and symptoms serious enough. But there are times when patients seek the care of one doctor after the other before they are finally diagnosed. This of course can add to the delay in starting treatment.
But then there is a financial constraint. Dr. Ghazi recalled that during a visit to Mabaruma there was one woman suffering from stage four cancer. “She was lying there with her six-year-old son by her side,” recalled Dr. Ghazi as he disclosed how the woman was unable to seek care because she didn’t have the financial wherewithal to travel to Georgetown.
This inability resulted in the woman’s husband opting to provide her with ‘bush’ medicine.
But such distractions, according to Dr. Ghazi, can cause more harm than good. He explained that forms of medical treatment will always be highly promoted because they are backed by millions of dollars in research that prove that they actually work.
Sadly, the Outreach Director noted, “Sometimes people put them aside and say treatment will kill. Chemotherapy will kill you; radiation is going to burn you. [They say] this person is doing this or that and they go there, but guess what when they come to us six months or five months later they are at a higher stage where they cannot come back and we see this every year,” Dr. Ghazi shared.

Syed Ghazi

Dr. Sayan Chakraborty

According to him, “Every year I lose three or four women…Last year I lost three of my breast cancer patients because they were distracted from the treatment.”
“I have begged people if you want to advise people, you can [tell them] use them [alternative treatment] together with the [medical] treatment. You can add it but for God’s sake don’t tell people not to take the treatment, that is harmful…I am not against spirituality, I am not against nature but for God’s sake don’t kill people.”
Gravitating to medical care at an early stage is especially important, according to Dr. Chakraborty. He revealed that in a span of five days he screened five patients all of whom were found to have precancerous lesions which had every potential of becoming cancerous within a year or two. He noted that if these lesions are addressed at the precancerous stage then the results of treatment cannot only be fantastic but help to ensure that the patient maintains a normal life.
In the case of treatment of cancer of the cervix there are three main pillars– chemotherapy, external beam radiation therapy and the internal therapy.
According to Dr. Chakraborty, “Fortunately right now we have all of the treatment that is on par with the international standard.”
He noted, too, that with the newest therapy offered by the institution – brachytherapy – internal radiation therapy is administered through a fully computerised treatment planning system.
Through this method the source of radiation is sent directly into the cancerous tumour and kills its cells without harming the surrounding normal organs.
This is advanced therapy, according to Dr. Chakraborty. It is only currently available in few other Caribbean territories. With chemotherapy which is popular for eliminating cancerous tumours, Dr. Chakraborty explained that parts of some normal cells are also affected.
“That cannot be prevented but with this particular new [brachytherapy] machine we can actually pin point our treatment through the tumour and the tumour only, providing safety to the surrounding normal structure from radiation,” Dr. Chakraborty said.