Apollo Gleneagles Hospitals introduces new technology in Kolkata to treat breast cancer

The “Radionuclide-labelled sentinel lymph node biopsy’’ is a radical technique in cancer surgery.

The procedure was successfully utilised to treat a patient at Apollo Gleneagles Hospitals, Kolkata for the first time ever in Eastern India.

The specialised team of doctors who performed this surgery comprised Dr Sudipta Maitra, Consultant, Cancer Surgery and Dr Debasish Chowdhury, Senior Consultant, Nuclear Medicine led by Dr Shaikat Gupta, Head of Department, Cancer Surgery, Apollo Gleneagles Hospitals, Kolkata.

This new technology enables gamma probe-guided precise lymph node dissections in breast cancer, after injecting radioactive sulphur colloid into the tumour. This helps the operating team to map which precise route the cancer cells are taking and which is the first point of spread, allowing removal of involved nodes and areas with pinpoint accuracy. After removal of the sentinel (primary) node, the surgical bed is re-examined to ensure that all radioactive sites were identified and removed for analysis. The sentinel lymph node is the hypothetical first lymph node or group of nodes draining a cancer. Hence, identifying this prior to dissemination of the cancer can prevent spread of the disease and save other innocent lymph nodes.

Presenting a significant advantage as a minimally invasive procedure, sentinel lymph node biopsy is fast becoming the standard of care for patients with cutaneous melanoma because of its high prognostic value. Also, the patient does not suffer from the long-term side-effects of radical surgery such as arm swelling and pain and other upper-body morbidity conditions such as weakness, tightness, poor range of motion, nerve palsies etc. This promising new technology is a “leap forward” in cancer surgery and research is underway across the globe to increase its application to other cancer surgeries, including head and neck and colon cancers.

Speaking on the occasion, Shaikat Gupta, Head of Department, Cancer Surgery, Apollo Gleneagles Hospitals said, “Breast cancer is a non-existent entity for a majority of population till a near and dear one suffers from it. Healthcare is low on priority and even in major cities screening is alien for most people. So this leads to most people presenting only when symptomatic and on an average, most symptomatic cancers are beyond stage 2B, the most significant numbers being stages 3 and 4. Hence the breast cancer patients do not tend to survive for a long time. In such a case, timely and quick detection is of paramount importance to prevent the cancer from spreading further. The purpose of this new technology is to aid the same”.

Speaking on the occasion, Rupali Basu, President & CEO-Eastern Region, Apollo Hospitals Group, India added, “We are witnessing breast cancer in much younger ages than earlier. The numbers of breast cancer cases in all age groups is rising rapidly. Breast cancers in the young tend to be more aggressive than cancers in the older population and survival in younger patients, especially in advanced stages, is lesser. So the need of the hour is breast awareness beginning from 20 years of age and regular screening from a qualified doctor so that we can detect the cancer early and treat it in earlier stages through advanced technology like the Sentinel Lymph Node Technique, thereby giving a chance of longer life for the patient as also decreasing the chance of a recurrence.”

(Reporting by Sudipto Maity)