Ongole: Blood cancer can be cured with right treatment says Specialist Dr Ganesh S Jaishetwar

Ongole : There are no preliminary or advanced stages in blood cancer and the disease can be completely cured to give a new lease of life to the patients, said Dr Ganesh S Jaishetwar, a senior hemato-oncologist and bone marrow transplant physician at Yashoda Hospital.

The Yashoda Hospital at Somajiguda in Hyderabad organised a press meet introducing a survivor of blood cancer from the Prakasam district at the Ongole Press Club on Saturday.

Dr Jaishetwar said that about 55 persons for every 10 lakh people in the country are suffering from blood cancer. About 8.2 per cent of the cancer patients are suffering from blood cancer.

He said that the theme for World Blood Cancer Day is set as ‘Today’s Diagnosis, Tomorrow’s Hope’. He said that the Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR)-T like targeted therapy, immunotherapy helps kill the cancer cells while not damaging the immune system of the patient.

Dr Jaishetwar informed that Chunduri Sambasiva Rao, aged about 65 years and from Ammanabrolu of Prakasam district, was unable to walk about a couple of years ago. After the orthopaedic doctor in Ongole informed them that it was not due to an orthopaedic problem, the family members shifted him to Yashoda Hospital in Somajiguda. He said that they found the aged person was suffering from blood cancer, and they treated it with chemotherapy and bone marrow transplantation. He said that the man has completely recovered now and walking and driving the vehicles just as he did earlier.

Dr Jaishetwar observed that most of the patients suffering from blood disorders and their relatives are of the opinion that the disease cannot be cured and that death is soon and inevitable. But it is not true, he explained. The blood diseases can be cured completely and the patients can lead a normal life like any average person, he said.