2-day meet of head, neck cancer experts at CMC Friday

The Christian Medical College, under the aegis of Foundation for Head and Neck Oncology (FHNO), a national body of oncologists in India, would host a two-day regional meet on ‘Setting Standards in the Management of Head and Neck Cancers’, from Friday.

Since management of Head and Neck Cancers necessitates a multidisciplinary approach, the meet, a part of a Continuing Medical Education (CME) programme, will bring together experts from the related fields of Surgery, Radiation Oncology, ENT, Dentistry, Nuclear Medicine and Endocrinology. The speakers and panelists will include members of the FHNO as well as local experts in the disciplines related to Head and Neck Oncology, according to Dr John Muthusamy, Head of Division of General surgery at CMC, the organising chairman of the event.

Head and neck cancers are among the commonest cancers in both men and women in India. According to an estimate by the National Cancer Registry, head and neck cancers comprised 30 per cent of all cancers in 2010 and the number is expected to increase. Around 75,000 newly diagnosed oral cancers are reported every year. A majority of these cancers are related to the use of both smoke and smokeless forms (Paan, Khaini) of tobacco as well as other cancer causing substances such as betel nut and slaked lime. Human papillomavirus and poor dental care also resulted in oral cancer, Muthusamy said.

The FHNO, since its inception in 2001, had been promoting various activities pertaining to training and research in Head and Neck Oncology in India, targeting higher surgical trainees and practicing head and neck surgeons across the country. Formal structured training programmes for head and neck oncologists have been started and short term training fellowships have been instituted in various cancer centres. To promote research activities, the Foundation had taken a lead in setting up a national cooperative research group.

The CME at CMC will include lectures on latest guidelines in the management of oral cancer in various sub-sites pertaining to Indian conditions, localise and update the guidelines proposed by the US-based National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN), followed by case capsules and interactive sessions with multidisciplinary panel discussions.

One of the highlights of the CME will be live operative surgery sessions. A number of delegates from South India, faculty from Tata Memorial Hospital, Mumbai, Amritha Institute of Medical Sciences, Cochin, and Narayana Hridayalaya, Bangalore, are expected to attend the CME, which will be inaugurated by Dr Suranjan Bhattacharjee, Director of CMC.