Ensuring end-to-end cancer care

American Oncology Institute (AOI), a Hyderabad-based chain of cancer hospitals founded by a group of doctors based in Pittsburg (US) on Tuesday launched a comprehensive centre at Nallagandla for skull-base tumor in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.

The unit offers an end-to-end cancer care providing radiation/medical/surgical/musculo-skeletal oncology programmes, blood and bone marrow transplant and comprehensive diagnostic services apart from head, neck and brain cancers.

The center is led by Dr M Babaiah, Medical Director and Consultant Radiation Oncology, Dr Sashikanth Jonnalagadda, consultant and chief of surgical oncology (head & neck) and Dr Ajay Reddy, consultant neurosurgeon trained in gamma knife/minimally Invasive spine surgery. They treat both cancerous and non-cancerous skull base tumors.

Speaking on the occasion, Dr Babaiah said a majority of the skull base tumors spread fast making patients report for treatment in advanced stages of the disease, resulting in delay of timely and quality treatment. The center will be able to meet the demand for precision-driven cancer treatment.

Patients suffering from any skull base tumor will benefit from the most advanced technology/treatments available at only a few locations in the country. Dr Jonnalagadda said skull base is a complex anatomical area at the base of brain and upper end of the neck.

As several vital structures traverse through this complex region, surgery has always been a challenge. Now with advent of new surgical techniques the AOI surgeons can deal with most of the diseases of this complex area in a safe and minimally invasive way.

Dr Reddy added that skull-based tumors require specialised techniques/surgeries around central carotid artery and cranial nerves. “Earlier the skull-based tumors were removed by opening the skull bones or facial bones which lead to scars. But now, with the advent of endoscopy and navigation, these tumors are removed through natural opening in the skull, without any scars,” he said.

They stated that a 65-year city gynecologist was living a normal life after removal of a life-threatening tumor. Dr Neha (name changed) had been suffering from nasal congestion for a long time. She didn’t pay much attention and took the problem on her stride. During a visit to the US, she bled through the nose. After initial diagnosis, biopsy was advised.

Things took a bleak turn, when told that she had an aggressive cancerous tumor near nose and eyes. She consulted hospitals in Hyderabad and Mumbai. In most places, she was told to undergo an outer surgery on the face. However, she decided to go ahead with surgery at AOI. During a marathon 12-hour surgery the team removed the tumor through the nose.

Lakshmi Surya Shetty (48) suffering from parotid gland tumor successfully operated for nine cm of tumor for the sixth time. She was suffering for a long time and had been operated five times, with the most recent being in 2013. The AOI team performed the high-risk surgery for the tumor that was invading the brain. It was removed from the skull base without craniotomy.