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Now, patients can avail free head & neck cancer surgery at Ludhiana Civil Hospital
Civil Hospital ENT specialist Dr Daman said the patients were up to this point being referred to either medical colleges in Patiala and Chandigarh or Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education Research, Chandigarh, for the surgeries
Patients suffering from head and neck cancers can now avail free surgeries at the Civil Hospital.
The hospital has teamed up with head and neck onco-surgeon Dr Vikramjeet Singh, who has been working at the Mohan Dai Oswal Cancer Hospital. He will now be performing surgeries every Thursday.
Head and neck cancers include tumours in the jaws, tongue, tonsils, thyroid, voice box and lymph nodes.
Singh, while talking about the procedures, said, “These malignancies were single modality treatments, which could get rid of in one surgery.”
Civil Hospital ENT specialist Dr Daman said the patients were up to this point being referred to either medical colleges in Patiala and Chandigarh or Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education Research, Chandigarh, for the surgeries.
The surgeries, Singh said, if done from private hospitals cost around ₹10,000 for biopsies, going up to ₹6 lakh.
Cancer patients, however, can now reach the hospital for an examination and avail services from diagnosis to surgeries free of cost.
Singh volunteered for the cause and will be performing the surgeries pro bono. “I’m doing this for purely altruistic reasons,” he said, emphasising that mouth cancer was one of the biggest killers for men in India.
“For those who have been habitually using tobacco and gutka, the risk factor is more than others,” he warned, adding, “As soon as someone with these habits notices that an ulcer or wound in the mouth won’t go away after having run its usual course of time, they must consult a doctor at the earliest.”
Early detection, Singh said, increases the chances of survival. Besides, he warned if the cancer goes undetected for a while, it has a higher chance of metastasising to other parts of the body.
However, he stressed that head and neck cancers when caught early were completely curable.
