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Shortage of doctors to tackle thyroid cases
Telangana and Andhra Pradesh do not have enough specialised thyroid surgeons. The Basavatarakam Indo-American Cancer Hospital alone gets 400 new patients every year compared to just 150 patients a few years ago.
Hyderabad: Telangana and Andhra Pradesh do not have enough specialised thyroid surgeons. The Basavatarakam Indo-American Cancer Hospital alone gets 400 new patients every year compared to just 150 patients a few years ago.
What compounds the problem of the lack of endocrine surgeons is the almost negligible number of cytopathologists. Thyroid cancer diagnosis requires experienced thyroid cytopathologist who could diagnose thyroid diseases at the cellular level, differentiate non tumour cells and advise for surgery.
In both Telangana and Andhra Pradesh there are just about four cytopathologists and endocrine surgeons. Dr A Zakir Ali, Consultant and Head, Dept. of Nuclear Medicine, Basavatarakam Indo-American Cancer Hospital & Research Institute says, “There are many small ill-equipped labs cropping up all over the city providing diagnosis at a low cost. But unless there is accuracy correct treatment is not possible.
For a simple thyroid nodule patients need to go undertake preliminary tests such as thyroid function test, neck ultrasound neck and fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) etc. Fine needle aspiration (FNA) biopsy and fine needle capillary sampling are the two most widely used diagnostic techniques for assessing the cytopathology of thyroid nodules to identify those patients who have nodules that should be removed.
These procedures are seldom interpreted accurately by inexperienced technicians as it requires in-depth knowledge, understanding and practice.” There is a lack of awareness on cytopathology and many medical students too do not opt for endocrinology as a result doctors do not specialise in the field. Surgeries for thyroid carcinoma or parathyroid adenoma are being performed in many cases by surgical oncologists themselves.
Dr Ashok, a US returned endocrinologist and a consultant to several corporate hospitals says, “The main treatment and follow up which is done with radioactive iodine is available only in a very few hospitals. Availability of a nuclear medicine physician is another major challenge. Dr Ali says, “If there is a lump in the neck, patients should not ignore. If a thyroid cancer is detected at an early stage, it can be almost completely treated.”
The US is expected to have the highest number of thyroid cases by 2020 in the world, closely followed by India at the third position. Thyroid cancer is much more common in women than in men. About three women are diagnosed for every man and can happen at any stage of adult life. The cure rate for thyroid cancer is around 97-98 percent, he said.
