Cancer Treatment in India

Cancer is a disease in which some cells in the body start growing uncontrollably and spread to other parts of the body.

Body cells normally undergo controlled growth, division, and death. However, damaged or aberrant cells continue to grow in cancer. They can spread to other organs through the blood and lymphatic system or develop into a lump known as a tumour.

What is the cost of cancer treatment in India?

India offers incredibly affordable cancer therapy. The best hospitals provide reasonably priced medical care packages that include multiple services during the course of therapy. The cancer treatment cost in India may vary from USD 500 (INR 38,000) to USD 8000 (INR 611,000).

Cancer Treatment Options

Cancer treatment depends on the type, stage, location, and overall health of the patient. Modern medicine offers multiple treatment options that can be used alone or in combination to achieve the best results.

Surgery

Surgery is a common way to treat cancer especially when the cancer is only in one place. The main goal of surgery is to take out the tumor that has cancer and the tissue around it that is also affected. For people who have cancer that's not very advanced surgery can make the cancer go away completely. New ways of doing surgery like using cuts and robots to help the doctor can help people feel better faster and have less pain. Sometimes surgery is used with treatments, like chemotherapy or radiation therapy to make the treatment work better.

Chemotherapy

Chemotherapy uses medicines to kill cancer cells or stop them from growing. It can be given by injection through a drip or as tablets that you swallow. Chemotherapy can be used before an operation to make tumors smaller after an operation to kill any cancer cells that are left or, as the treatment if the cancer has spread. Nowadays chemotherapy is more targeted. We have better ways to help with the side effects so the treatment is safer and works better.

Radiation Therapy

Radiation therapy is a way to get rid of cancer cells. It uses rays to kill these bad cells and make tumors smaller. This treatment is very precise. It only targets the area and tries not to hurt the healthy parts of our body. Doctors can use radiation therapy by itself. They can use it after someone has had surgery or they can use it with chemotherapy. There are some cool tools, like IMRT, IGRT and proton therapy that help doctors give just the right amount of radiation. This means people have bad side effects. Radiation therapy is a way to kill cancer cells and shrink tumors. Doctors like using radiation therapy because it is very precise and helps people get better.

Immunotherapy

The bodys immune system is able to fight cancer when it gets a help from Immunotherapy. This is because Immunotherapy helps the immune system recognize cancer cells. Then it can destroy these cancer cells. Doctors use Immunotherapy to treat people with lung cancer, melanoma and some blood cancers.

There are kinds of Immunotherapy treatments. These include checkpoint inhibitors, CAR-T cell therapy and monoclonal antibodies. Immunotherapy is really good at treating cancers. It can even help people, with cancer for a long time. Many people are able to control their cancer with Immunotherapy.

Targeted Therapy

Targeted therapy is a treatment that focuses on genes, proteins or molecules. These are the things that help cancer grow and spread. Unlike chemotherapy targeted therapy attacks cancer cells in a precise way. This means it causes damage to the normal cells in our body. Doctors often use therapy to treat breast cancer, lung cancer and leukemia. Targeted therapy is often used along with treatments. This helps to get results, for the patients.

Hormone Therapy

Some cancers, like breast cancer and prostate cancer grow because of hormones. Hormone therapy helps by blocking or reducing the production of hormones, which slows down or stops the cancer from growing. This therapy is often used together with treatments, like surgery, radiation or targeted therapy to lower the risk of the cancer coming back.

Bone Marrow / Stem Cell Transplant

The stem cell transplant treatment is mainly used for blood cancers, like leukemia, lymphoma and multiple myeloma. This stem cell transplant treatment replaces the damaged bone marrow with stem cells after the patient has gone through high-dose chemotherapy or radiation therapy.

The stem cell transplant treatment can really help the patient rebuild their system and it can also improve the survival rates of patients who have stem cell transplant treatment.