Cancer trials in india

It is India's first ISO certified healthcare provider and ranked among the top super specialty hospitals. This institute is a medical college as well as a research hospital which comes under the direct administrative control of Directorate General of Health Services, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, India.

Max Institute is one of the leading cancer care hospitals in India. It has its chains in Punjab and Gurgaon. The institute specializes in the treatment of organ-specific cancer care such as lung cancer, head cancer, neck cancer, blood cancer, breast cancer, cervical cancer, and gastrointestinal cancer.

Postgraduate Institute of medical education is constantly involved in research activities for the rural and community-related environment and health problems. This research center has a team of highly committed scientists and research scholars from biological and chemical sciences having great skills and knowledge in the field of cancer biology. Note - We have listed these cancer research centres based on several sources.

Please contact the research centre if you need any further information. Himanshi is a Homeopathic consultant currently working as a lecturer in Post-graduate faculty of Homeopathy, Parul University, Vadodara.

Government Dental Hospitals in Mumbai. In Vitro Fertilization Center. Top 5 Government Hospitals in India. Free Dental Hospitals In Hyderabad.

Disclaimer - The content on this site is for informational purposes only. In a clinical trial, patients are given this new treatment and the response of their cancer is carefully documented. If the new treatment can deliver superior outcomes to the old treatment, it becomes the new standard treatment for this cancer.

All cancer clinical trials in India need approval and monitoring by regulatory authorities approved by the Government of India such as Drug Controller General of India and ethics committees.

They watch over these trials closely and make sure that participants are not harmed or put at unnecessary risk as part of the trial. Most cancer clinical trials include free treatment as part of the trial. This generally includes all tests, investigations, admissions, treatments, medicines etc. Also, if patient suffers any side effects during the trial treatment of these is also generally done for free.

Randomized cancer clinical trials. The only disadvantage of participating in a clinical trial is that there is no guarantee that the experimental treatment will be better than the standard treatment.

Higher incidence of gallbladder cancer in north India and NE region compared to other parts, higher incidence of stomach cancer in Chennai and Bengaluru PBCRs, oesophagus cancer in Kashmir and NE region would indicate different aetiological factors operating, for example, environmental, diet, lifestyle and genetic factors 4. Nearly 50 per cent of cancers in males and 15 per cent in females are related to the use of tobacco in different forms.

These include cancers of aerodigestive tract head and neck, lung and oesophagus , pancreas and renal and urinary bladder 4. It is clear that the biggest measure to reduce the incidence of these cancers would be to reduce the consumption of tobacco. Specific cancer research programmes to focus on biology of population present in various States with PBCRs will help determine risk factors responsible and suggest strategies for prevention.

Almost per cent of patients have advanced disease Stage at the time of diagnosis 5. This has been attributed to the late presentation which in turn is due to low level of awareness in the population and among community physicians, lack of screening programmes, lack of diagnostic facilities locally and vast distances to travel to reach a major tertiary cancer centre, financial constraints and stigma associated with the diagnosis.

Lack of place to stay, long time taken for investigations, limited finances, language and cultural differences are also some of the limitations 4. One of the major reasons for not being able to implement screening programme in India has been lack of workforce - physicians, health workers, technical staff and pathologist to review pathological material. The preference of healthcare personnel to work in urban settings has also resulted in unequal distribution of healthcare centres and practitioners.

Many tertiary care centres not all have a comprehensive team of professionals comprising medical, radiation and surgical oncologists, pain and palliative care experts and auxiliary services, for example, diagnostics and pathological tests. A complex team like this is yet to be a reality in rural India 6. Available data from randomized trials done in south India suggest that simple innovative methods such as visual inspection-based screening for oral cavity 7 , visual inspection with acetic acid application for cervical cancer 8 may be useful and cost-effective methods of screening for these two common cancers.

Similarly, for breast cancer self-examination or examination by a physician may be alternative methods to screening mammography 9 which are doable for early detection of breast cancer, as detection in early stages is amenable for treatment with curative option with less morbidity. Ultimately, the screening programmes can bring down the incidence of some of the common cancers in India.

There has been effort by the Government of India GOI to establish regional cancer centres in rural areas, and upgrade medical colleges with oncology department.

The GOI has also allocated 20 million USD to develop 23 new tertiary care centres and to strengthen 27 regional cancer centres This is a mammoth task and will take some years before this translates into standard care and survival benefit.

One solution to this problem might be setting up and improving primary care services in rural areas and educating people about cancer, environmental pollution, clean drinking water, healthy diet and avoid tobacco use Experienced health practitioner, researchers and physicians should concentrate on early detection of cancer, as cure rates are high, if cancer is detected in early stage. Several non-government organizations are engaged in increasing public awareness, supporting screening, early detection, patient and family support services and palliative care by providing home care 4 , There is a need to consolidate and strengthen their role in national cancer control programme.

Further, the ICMR has taken initiative to publish consensus documents on common cancers in India to improve quality and standardized cancer care. These are expert and evidence-based guidelines to promote uniformity and to ensure the quality of treatment across cancer centres in India In recent years, the government has tried to address these issues by establishment of the National Health Mission and insurance schemes such as Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojna a central government initiative ; Rajiv Aarogyasri Scheme an Andhra Pradesh government initiative ; Vajpayee Arogyashree Scheme a Karnataka government initiative 12 , and also Gujarat health scheme model The emphasis is now to educate people about these programmes.

This lack of clinical trials is probably a secondary effect of poor funding and healthcare service in these states, said Chakraborty. Also Read: India lagging in cervical cancer prevention, needs more screening, vaccination, experts say. But even within each state, cancer trials are usually conducted in just one or two institutions, making access even more disparate.

Mathur agreed that, until recent years, there were few institutions that were good at conducting clinical trials, and these were not distributed in line with disease burden. Even if more cancer centres are created, giving researchers autonomy as well as incentives to do research is crucial, said Aju Mathew, a medical oncologist at Ernakulam Medical Centre, a private hospital in Kochi, as well as director of the non-profit Kerala Cancer Care, who was not involved in the study.

Mathur agreed that the need of the hour is to strengthen the capacity of clinicians to develop good research protocols and undertake high quality research. Funding is also a challenge for researchers if they wish to initiate clinical trials at their clinics, said Chakraborty.

A study co-authored by Mathew found that there were only cancer clinical trials testing some kind of intervention in the Indian population that were registered with the CTRI between and Of these, about half were sponsored by pharmaceutical companies.

Around 32 per cent of the trials were sponsored by the government, while non-governmental organisations funded about 9 per cent, the study said. You need to have a set of coordinators who are well paid and well trained.

You cannot expect that one person will follow up with patients and do a good job of it. Cancer centres like Tata Memorial Hospital, for example, have both good monetary as well as logistical support. This leaves time for the doctors to focus on the actual research.