Cancer, what is it?
Cancer is a terrible illness that causes uncontrollable cell development and has been a leading cause of death in the world. When the body’s regular regulatory system malfunctions, cancer might form. Instead of degenerating into new, aberrant cells, old cells continue to grow uncontrollably. A tumor could develop from these excess cells as a mass of tissue.
One of the main causes of death worldwide is cancer. WHO estimates that 12 million people worldwide would die from cancer in 2022.
For many years, the fight against cancer has been ongoing. In the area of cancer research, there have been numerous developments. Patients now have access to numerous new and improved cancer treatments. The impact of the disease on people, families, and communities is still growing on a global scale.
Your primary goal should be receiving the proper treatment if you or a loved one has been diagnosed with cancer. The availability of various cutting-edge cancer medicines in nations like India has recently made them popular locations for receiving cancer treatment. You must take the expense of your cancer treatment into account in addition to receiving prompt care from a knowledgeable oncologist.
The various facets of cancer and the price of cancer treatment in India have been covered in this article.
How Cancer Is Defined
A condition known as cancer occurs when some body cells grow out of control and spread to other body regions.
Since the human body contains billions of cells, cancer can develop practically everywhere. Human cells typically proliferate and divide (via a process called cell division) to create new cells as the body requires them. Cells die when they are old or injured, and new cells replace them.
When this routine process fails, aberrant or damaged cells begin to proliferate and develop when they shouldn’t. Tumors—tissue growths—can develop from these cells. Tumors can be malignant or benign (not cancerous).
Cancerous tumors can metastasize, which is the process by which they spread to other parts of the body to produce new tumors, and they can also infiltrate adjacent tissues. The term “malignant tumor” can also refer to cancerous growths. While many malignancies become solid tumors, blood-related cancers like leukemias typically do not.
The tissues around a benign tumor are not invaded or disseminated to. While dangerous tumors can come back after removal, benign tumors typically don’t. However, sometimes benign tumors can grow to be extremely enormous. Some, like benign brain tumors, might have life-threatening side effects or serious symptoms.
Cancer cells differ from normal cells in certain ways.
In many respects, cancer cells are different from healthy ones. Cancer cells, for instance:
- Develop despite without receiving commands to do so. Only when they get such signals do normal cells expand.
- Ignore signals that typically instruct cells to halt their division or undergo apoptosis, often known as programmed cell death.
- Infiltrate adjacent regions before moving on to other body parts. Most normal cells do not travel across the body and cease growing when they come into contact with other cells.
- Blood vessels should expand in the direction of malignancies. These blood veins transport waste from tumors and provide oxygen and nutrition to the tumors.
- Evade the immune system by hiding. Damaged or aberrant cells are typically eliminated by the immune system.
- Fool the immune system into sustaining and promoting the growth of cancer cells. As an illustration, certain cancer cells persuade immune cells to defend the tumor rather than fight it.
- Acquire many chromosome alterations, including as chromosome component duplications and deletions. Some cancer cells contain twice as many chromosomes as healthy cells do.
- Depend on different nutrients than healthy cells do. Additionally, as opposed to most normal cells, certain cancer cells use a distinct process to produce energy from nutrients. This promotes the rapid growth of cancer cells.
The aberrant actions that cancer cells frequently exhibit are essential to their survival. This fact has been used by researchers, who have created treatments that focus on the aberrant characteristics of cancer cells. For instance, certain cancer treatments stop blood vessels from directing their growth toward tumors, thereby depriving the tumor of the nutrients it requires.
Best Cancer Treatment Options.
There are currently numerous cutting-edge cancer therapy options available because to advancements in medical research. The best course of action is to speak with a knowledgeable oncologist who can offer you the finest cancer treatment. The sort of cancer you have and the stage at which it is in will determine the type of treatment you will receive. Depending on your situation, you can receive just one treatment or a number of them in combination. With the goal of making the greatest decision for your health, you should talk to your doctor and assess the advantages and disadvantages of each course of therapy. The following are some of the most typical cancer treatments:
An operation is carried out by a surgical oncologist to eradicate as much cancer as feasible. Solid tumors that are confined to a single area of the body are the ones that surgery is most frequently used to remove. The price of surgery in India might range from $4,000 to $12,000.
Chemotherapy: Drugs are used to kill cancer cells in this method of cancer treatment. Chemotherapy may cause side effects since it might impact the proliferation of healthy cells as well. Nausea, mouth sores, and hair loss are some of the typical adverse effects of chemotherapy. Chemotherapy sessions in India might cost between $300 and $1500.
The main applications for hormone therapy include the treatment of breast and prostate cancer. This treatment focuses on cells that utilize hormones for growth. The cancer cells can be prevented from proliferating by either eliminating the hormones necessary for proliferation or inhibiting their actions. Oral or intravenous administration of hormone treatment are both options. Hormone therapy typically costs between $4,000 and $5,000 in India.
Drugs that specifically target the distinctive traits of cancer cells are utilized in this therapy to prevent the spread of the disease. The method of treatment doesn’t harm healthy cells. Targeted treatment in India costs between $2700 and $3500.
Immunotherapy: In immunotherapy, cancer cells are eliminated by the body’s own immune system. It’s also referred to as biological therapy. Cancerous cells are capable of dodging the immune system. However, immunotherapy gives your immune system the ability to identify cancer cells, allowing it to destroy them. In India, immunotherapy ranges from $3500 to $5500.
Radiation therapy: This kills malignant cells by utilizing high-energy beams like X-rays. This type of therapy uses radiation that can be administered either externally or inside (brachytherapy). In India, radiation therapy can cost anything from $800 to $25,000.
Bone marrow transplant: In this treatment, stem cells that can create healthy blood cells are used to replace the diseased or damaged bone marrow. Another name for it is a stem cell transplant. Both the patient’s body and the donor’s body may be used to obtain these stem cells in an allogeneic bone marrow transplant as well as an autologous bone marrow transplant. Leukemia and other diseases are treated through bone marrow transplantation. BMT might cost between $13,000 and $35,000 in India.
Robotic surgery: The patient’s cancer may occasionally be removed with robotic surgery. When standard surgery is not the best option for addressing the issue, this sort of surgery—which is typically laparoscopic—is carried out. In this case, the procedure will be carried out by the surgeon using robotic surgical equipment. Less pain and scars result with robotic surgery. It is connected to a quicker recovery. Colorectal and pancreatic cancer are two types of cancers that can be handled by robotic surgery. In India, the average cost of robotic cancer surgery is about $8,000.
