The question today is not whether you want to treat cancer. The question today is ‘how enthusiastically?’ But to find
answer to that question is not always easy. Because it brings in a lot of other questions, like when, how and where and at times the quest for a suitable answer gets misdirected by improper understanding and confusion, which is natural, given the complex nature of the disease called cancer and often because of the fear associated with it.

Often people try to learn from one or two cases they have heard about or seen and make their decisions based upon those experiences. That is not a wise thing to do. The disease is far more complex than that. That complexity arises not from the fact that medical knowledge has no suitable answer to it, but from the fact that cancer per se is not one single disease but a common name for a group of malignant diseases. The result of treatment for those diseases depend on many factors such as the type of malignancy, the organ involved, the age and sex of the patient, the time of diagnosis and commencement of treatment, the general health of the patient, and of course what kind of treatment the patient gets ultimately.

The last one is the most important because no one can change the other factors, either the type of the disease, or the organ involved. But one can certainly improve one’s chances by making a wise and informed decision about the treatment. Because at times there might be more than one option that you can follow, even the specialists might have differed in their opinions, or because you have to make a choice regarding your place of treatment and, as is often, the cost has become a consideration. Though, being costly and precious does not make a treatment plan good and effective always.

….And also because, cancer treatment itself is rapidly evolving. From the experience and the knowledge my colleagues and I have gathered after more than two decades of going through the grind, I can tell you that informed and wise decision making on the part of the patient and the relations is the key to all successful treatments. After all that is where the story begins. More than being novel and exotic, the foundation needs to be solid and supporting so that further therapeutic procedures can be based on it.

…And more so if surgery is the chosen option for therapy. Where Experience and Expertise count. And Empathy. Nothing helps more than a good surgery and cancer surgery calls for something more than simply cutting and taking out a specimen. It must be an integral part of the whole treatment that is required to be planned for and is possible to give to a particular patient. As a practicing cancer surgeon it has always been my deep conviction that we must always consider the need of an individual patient and not forget his or her face buried under an ID number in a treatment protocol. The patient or the party should be empowered to play an active role in the treatment.