NE HEALTH BUREAU
AHMEDABAD, FEB 29
Over 1,300 cancer patients die in India daily, says the National Cancer Registry Programme of India Council of Medical Research (ICMR). According to World Health Organization (WHO) Cancer Report, lung, oral, lip, throat, and neck cancers are the most common among men in India, while women suffer more from cervix, breast and ovarian cancers. Among the elderly, cancers of the intestine and prostate are the most commonly occurring ones.
Of the 96 million cancer deaths occurred globally in 2018, China, US and India, accounted the most with India ranking three. And India, North-east leads in cancer diseases followed by Gujarat where tobacco is the major contributor, says the report.
To cure and contaion this deadly disease, Ahmedabad-based Stat Care has pioneered a new therapy for the treatment of cancer, which has no side effects (as compared to other cancer treatments), and also prevents in recurrence of cancer and delays cancer progression.
“We are the first to introduce ONCOBLISS, which is cancer immunotherapy for all cancers in various stages of the disease, in Gujarat. We have already treated many patients using this breakthrough therapy so far, and are very happy with the results,” said Dr. Vikesh Shah, Founder, Stat Care.
According to Dr. Shah, ONCOBLISS can be taken at any stage of cancer and there are no side effects.
“There is a high success rate of ONCOBLISS therapy,” he said.
ONCOBLISS is an autologous treatment, which involves a patient’s own White Blood Cells transformed into cancer-specific Antigen Presenting Cells (APCs) – which stimulates cytotoxic T-cells & other immune cells, and helps in delaying cancer progression, and improving survival, Dr Shah explained.
Dr Ralph M. Steinman was posthumously awarded Nobel Prize in 2011 for his work on these cells.
“ONCOBLISS is not a drug or stem cell therapy. It is made using the patient’s own White Blood Cells collected by peripheral blood. It is designed to be specific and targets only the cancerous cells without harming the healthy ones. It is safe and effective and works best to prevent relapse and recurrences, the major cause of mortality and morbidity,” he said further.
Dr Shah said that ONCOBLISS can be administered in a combination as the fourth modality of cancer along with other treatment modalities such as surgery, chemotherapy or radiation, and it has shown the most promise at preventing a recurrence of cancer and improving patient survival.
“ONCOBLISS works best in patients who opt for it early during the disease progression and those who opt for it immediately after any de-bulking procedure (chemo/radiotherapy/surgery) when the tumour load is minimal. Moreover, there are negligible adverse effects or toxicity of this therapy,” he added.
Elaborating on the treatment procedure, Dr Shah said, “It is only a 30-minute procedure and needs no hospitalisation. The cost of treatment ranges from Rs 80,000 onwards and depends upon the stage of cancer. At present, no insurance cover is available for this life-saving treatment procedure as it is in the nascent stage. In the larger interest of the needy patients, we hope the authorities will extend insurance cover for this treatment also.”
