In what could be a major relief to cancer patients, new clinical data have suggested that organs can be preserved in about 50 per cent of the cases if the disease is diagnosed at an early stage.
According to information available with experts, organs can be preserved in cases of the disease affecting head, neck, breast, ano-rectal, genitourinary, bone and soft tissues.
"Early detection can help in organ preservation...," Dr Yonas Tegegn, Scientist and Public Health Administrator of World Health Organisation said at the annual conference of Rajiv Gandhi Cancer Institute (RGCI).
Dr N R Datta, Senior Consultant, Department of Radiation Oncology at RGCI, said in many cases, patients would hide the disease at an early stage due to the fear associated with it and this may result in body disfigurement.
"The phobia attached to cancer traditionally is that any treatment in cancer would lead to a severe body disfigurement.
Thus patients would conceal even if it is diagnosed at an early stage and would deter from seeking proper medical assistance," he said.
Datta said the present day medical science has progressed far enough and opt for less mutilating and extensive procedures.
"Thus as a routine, open cholecystectomy (gall bladder removal) is a matter of past in preference to laproscopically guided cholecystectomy," he said.
Cancer kills more victims annually than HIV, tuberculosis and malaria combined. There is an increase of the disease among the low-income and lower-middle income groups and only five per cent of global resources for cancer are spent in the developing world.