One of the most feared conditions in the world today is Cancer. A disease which is responsible for the death of millions of people. Cancer comes in many forms and can happen to any part of our body and has earned the reputation of the second leading cause of death as per WHO. In recent years the number of Cancer cases has been rising. It's a disease rooted in the fundamentals of our biology; it presents tough challenges that can be altered if medical experts from various fields unite. Fusing existing methods with new ones could help fight this challenging health problem. Facilitating the advancement of therapeutics can end the progression of the disease and help patients live longer.

Barriers to health care for Cancer patients

Cancer is speedily transforming into a pandemic with millions of registered patients. According to estimates >1.5M new cancer cases are diagnosed every year, and this number is expected to double in the next 5 years. Add on top of that, a significant number of cases going undiagnosed due to lack of resources and unavailability of screening and treatment facilities in tier two and tier three cities.

India is suffering a severe infrastructure mismatch to manage such a heavy load of patients. 50% of India’s oncologists are based in top 10 cities, with other 300 cities accounting for remaining oncologists. Cancer centers in big cities are managing patients loads of 15-20 nearby cities as per healthcare industry insiders. This leads to most cancer centres in bigger cities being congested, and because of reduced human resources and inadequate infrastructure, there are additional delays in treatment.

As cancer patients travel from smaller cities to big cities, this also creates a financial challenge with additional spend on accommodation and commute. Many drop out of treatment as their limited finances exhaust.

Battling Cancer through Technology

Curing cancer is undoubtedly one of the most significant hurdles in today's time. Our understanding of cancer has developed considerably in the past few years and we understand the sizable variability between different kinds of cancers, and also among

patients with a similar type of Cancer. It's obvious that there won't be a sole cure. Instead, every patient will be treated accordingly to their particular needs. Gene Therapies, cell therapies, personalized vaccines, blood tests for early cancer detection are some of the technologies that can help us fight cancer better in coming years. But to think that these will be readily available to a regular patient in India seems a far fetched reality.

We should instead focus on improving quality of care in tier 2 cities & beyond with existing medical treatment using technology. We need to link cancer centers in small towns with centers in bigger cities.

A tumor board (multidisciplinary cancer panel) of big city hospitals can train doctors in small centers via tele-conferencing (Zoom, Skype, etc.) and enable them to handle simpler cases at local centers. Only more complex cases should be sent to bigger centers. Tata Memorial Hospital in Mumbai has long been working with GoI to make this a reality, however the execution is still a long way to go.

Tele-medicine can play a transformational role in making this a reality as patients and doctors from small centers reach out to this tumor board online for any questions they might have. This will enable patients to get high quality treatment, while enabling them to get treated at a local center in a cost effective way. 

Bots can assist doctors in taking care of more routine and algorithmic work of sending reminders to patients to take medicines, undergo diagnostic tests, collect patient’s history or read relevant information on patient’s cancers.

AI powered digital pathology can help radio-pathologists review pathology slides from anywhere in the country. This technology has already reached mainstream and will soon become the backbone of cancer diagnosis in India. Samples and slides that need to be physically examined can still be couriered to facilities in big cities, and to save time reports can be delivered digitally.

Wrapping Up

Modern science is working hard to develop solutions, however it’ll be several years until a new affordable treatment with a higher chance of beating cancer comes in. Till then it is imperative for us to focus on India specific solutions to solve our unique challenges.

Technological change has spread itself across the healthcare domain, carrying with it a digital alteration in the way patients and doctors communicate, and with more changes yet to come, the question isn’t how should we promote technology in cancer care. Real question is can we afford not to?