BBCI to study quality of life of patients with head & neck cancer

BY OUR STAFF REPORTER

Guwahati, May 11: In Kamrup (Metro) district the incidence of pharynx cancers in women is highest in the country and in men; it is second to the highest.

Due to consumption of chewable tobacco, the incidences of oral cancer are very high in the State. As per the Cancer Registry report of Dr Bhubaneswar Borooah Cancer Institute (BBCI), 2541 patients with head and neck cancers attended the institute for cancer treatment.

BBCI will conduct a research project on pre-radiotherapy counseling of patients with head and neck cancer, and its impact on the quality of life and radiation related local toxicity.

This landmark study will be completed in three months time, which will shed light on the quality of life of head and neck cancer patients and the measures needed to raise it to intertiol standards, in our setting.

The study will use European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) quality of life questionire to assess the quality of life at the end of treatment. The investigators for the study are Dr.Partha Pratim Medhi, Dr.Apurba Kumar Kalita, Dr.Mouchumee Bhattcharyya and post-graduate resident doctors from the Department of Radiation Oncology, Dr.Manigreeva Krishtreya and Mr. Manoj Kalita from the Department of Cancer Registry and Epidemiology, and Dr. Amal Chandra Kataki, Director, BBCI.

Around 300 to 400 cancer patients attend the Outpatient Department (OPD) everyday and due to paucity of time, doctors are not in a position to answer all possible queries of every single patient and their attendants related to radiotherapy during the limited working hours in a day. Thus, it becomes imperative to do group counseling of patients prior to the start of treatment with radiotherapy regarding the side effects and other factors related to the treatment.

According to Dr. Amal Chandra Kataki, Director of BBCI, treatment with exterl beam radiotherapy results in few local side effects, which at time forces the patient to drop out during the course of treatment. In view of this, pre-radiotherapy group counseling to patients to maintain oral hygiene and tooth care, facial skin care, dietary requirements, and recommended daily fluid intake is essential to counter the local side effects of radiotherapy. To overcome the side effects associated with radiotherapy, BBCI has started pre-radiotherapy counseling of patients with head and neck cancers from the May 1.