| Central cancer registry essential: Razvan Galalae |
| Friday, 13 June 2008 | |
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There is an urgent need to establish ‘central cancer registry’ in Pakistan on the pattern of European countries to get people registered by application of uniform diagnostic methods. Early detection of cancer is possible which is imperative for treatment, said Dr Razvan M. Galalae, co-director of University Hospital Schleswig-Holstein, Kiel campus. Galalae was here to train doctors of the Sindh Institute of Urology and Transplantation (SIUT) for launching of Brachytherapy treatment for prostate and cervix cancers. He has done his PhD on the development of high-precision radiotherapy. He said that around five to 10 years ago, European countries passed a law, making the registration of cancer patients mandatory. As a result, now knowledge about oncology is increasing. He said it will also help control it through standardised medical investigation. The registry first should identify which type of cancer is common in the country and after collecting some data, the screening should start. He fears that the number of people suffering from cancer may increase up to 50 per cent in Europe in the next two decades. “The basic reason is that population is aging everywhere,” he said. Dietary changes also contribute to the growing cancer as there is too much fat in some diets. Besides these, there are also environmental factors. Pollution, smoking and alcohol are also compounding the problem. The cardio respiratory system is also not fit because of lack of physical activity. He said there are some specific reasons such as industrial ingredients that can cause cancer. “Cancer is one of the major challenges for doctors,” Galalae said. Another challenge for doctors is that treatment is becoming “inter-disciplinary”. Multiple modalities are being adopted hence, “we (doctors) need to understand each other and work together.” The third challenge is the new technology that is coming up and “we have to adjust ourselves with it for treatment of patients,” he elaborated. Advocating scientific collaboration between Germany and Pakistan for carrying out joint research on diseases, Galalae said owing to proper screening, cervix cancer has almost been eliminated in Germany. However, in Pakistan it is the most common form of cancer after breast cancer. He said that cervix cancer starts with a virus, which leads to pre-cancer lesions and then cancer. “If you introduce proper screening, you can treat pre-cancerous lesions and prevent the cancer,” he said, adding that this is what Germany has done to control it. To a question regarding the kind of treatment (surgery, radiotherapy, chemotherapy and Brachytherapy) most suited for cancer, he said that the focus is on interdisciplinary treatment because cancer cannot be treated in isolation from other modalities. He said that no treatment is free from side-effects. He said that so far, he has treated 250 cancer patients through Brachytherapy in Germany. Apart from the PhD titled ‘Development of combined Brachytherapy and external beam radiation for high risk cancer of prostate’, Galalae who is an associate professor of radiation oncology in Christian Albrechts University has also written 33 scientific papers published in different medical journals and co-authored 120 publications. Around 12 students from all over the world are doing PhDs under his mentorship. Replying to a question about importance of research in medical field, he said that “of course, treatment should be evidence-based.” You have to know which therapy is better and sometimes all questions are not answered through knowledge, hence you have to conduct randomised trials, he added. Regarding his experience in Karachi, Galalae said that his first impression was pleasant. “People here are nice — intellectual exchange is also impressive and food is wonderful.” But the “strong sun” here is the most disturbing thing. He said that security is not problem for him and he feels safe here. |
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