Mumbai centre teams up with govt, finds high incidence of oral cancer in Bihar

Oral cancer accounts for nearly 95% of the 56 confirmed cases of cancer detected in the last five months under the government’s ongoing cancer screening programme conducted by the Homi Bhabha Cancer Hospital and Research Centre (HBCHRC), Muzaffarpur, a unit of the Tata Memorial Centre (TMC), Mumbai, said officials monitoring the programme.

Oral cancer accounts for nearly 95% of the 56 confirmed cases of cancer detected in the last five months under the government’s ongoing cancer screening programme conducted by the Homi Bhabha Cancer Hospital and Research Centre (HBCHRC), Muzaffarpur, a unit of the Tata Memorial Centre (TMC), Mumbai, said officials monitoring the programme.

In Patna, cancer screening camps are held twice a week. (Representational image)

Two other patients suffer from cancer of the cervix and one from breast cancer.

The Bihar government and the Rural Electrification Corporation (REC) Limited are collaborating with the TMC after a pact in March.

“Of the 56 cancer cases confirmed so far, seven have undergone surgery at the TMC’s temporary operation theatre at Muzaffarpur’s Sri Krishna Medical College Hospital (SKMCH). Seven others are undergoing chemotherapy, as part of TMC’s day-care facility at Muzaffarpur, while one is in palliative care, at the terminally ill stage. Four have died so far,” said Dr Ravikant Singh, nodal officer, HBCHRC, under the Atomic Energy Commission of India.

As many as 1,800 people of the nearly 80,000 screened through our 940 camps conducted in 14 of Bihar’s 38 districts were suspected to be suffering from cancer, he added.

“Given the high caseload in Patna, Aurangabad, Bhagalpur and Begusarai, we will put an additional team to scale up our programme in these four districts,” said Dr Singh.

The TMC signed a memorandum of understanding for cancer awareness programme with the Bihar government and the REC in March, but the second wave of the pandemic in April and May affected its progress.

“It has picked up momentum only during the last three months after Covid-19 cases began to show a downward trend,” said Dr Singh.

In Patna, cancer screening camps are held twice a week at the Guru Gobind Singh district hospital (Wednesday and Saturday), New Gardiner Road Hospital (Tuesday), Gardanibagh hospital (Thursday), Phulwari block hospital (Monday). Fridays are reserved for conducting community-level camps in panchayats, added Dr Singh.

The HBCHRC had in February initiated outdoor patient department (OPD) consultation in a prefabricated structure near the SKMCH in Muzaffarpur. Besides, 30-40 beds there are reserved for chemotherapy. It has also initiated immunotherapy. Its specialists have conducted a few head and neck cancer surgeries at the trauma centre operation theatre (OT) of the SKMCH.

The state government had given the HBCHRC 15 acres of land near the SKMCH in Muzaffarpur in 2018. The facility expects its structure to be ready within two years. The last date for applying against the tender is September 25. It has allotted ₹136 crore for the hospital and radiotherapy block while another ₹100 crore has been earmarked for the purchase of equipment.

The HBCHRC was the first to initiate a population-based cancer registry in the state in 2018. One at the Indira Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences became fully operational this year.

“Despite some constraints, the HBCHRC is doing a reasonably good job. We intend to scale up the cancer screening programme to cover the entire state,” said a senior state health officer, requesting anonymity

.