aarogya.com
  • Home
  • Complementary Medicine
    • Ayurveda
    • Homeopathy
    • Naturopathy
    • Acupressure
    • Acupuncture
    • Aromatherapy
    • Batch Flower Remedies
    • Home Remedies
    • Massage
    • Yoga
    • Meditation
    • Reiki
    • Bodywork
    • Medical Palmistry
  • Conditions & Diseases
    • Acute Diarrheal Disease
    • Appendicitis
    • Blindness
    • Brucellosis
    • Chicken Pox
    • Conjunctivitis
    • Dysentery
    • Hookworm
    • Japanese Encephalitis
    • Lymphatic Filariasis
    • Plague
    • Rubella
    • Typhoid Fever
    • Yellow Fever
    • Allergy
    • Arthritis
    • Blood Pressure
    • Computer Health Hazards
    • Chikungunya Fever
    • Dengue
    • Guinea Worm
    • Influenza
    • Leprosy
    • Malaria
    • Poliomyelitis
    • Tetanus
    • Whooping Cough
    • Viral Hepatitis
    • Amebiasis
    • Asthma
    • Bronchitis
    • Diagnostic Tests
    • Cholera
    • Diphtheria
    • Hepatitis
    • Irritable Bowel Syndrome
    • Leptospirosis
    • Measles
    • Rabies
    • Tuberculosis
    • Yaws
  • Family Health
    • Children's Health
    • Diet & Nutrition
    • First Aid
    • Fitness
    • Humor & Trivia
    • Men's Health
    • Preventive Health
    • Senior's Health
    • Senior Citizen Corner
    • Teen’s Health
    • Vets and Pets
    • Women’s Health
  • Health Resources
    • Blood Donation
    • Career Opportunities
    • Daily Health Tips
    • Health Programs
    • Featured Hospitals
    • Medical Education
    • Health Professional's Negligence
    • Medical Tourism
    • Video Eye
    • Rural Health
    • Patients' Rights Forum
  • Insurance
    • Euthanasia
    • Health Insurance
    • Health Insurance Policies
    • Insurance Companies
    • Medical Ethics
    • Medical Jurisprudence
    • Research
    • Telemedicine
    • Compare Health Insurance
  • Sex & Sexuality
    • What is Sex & Sexuality?
    • FAQs
    • Marriage & Pregnancy
    • Sex Education
  • Support Groups
    • Addiction
    • Aids
    • Cancer
    • Epilepsy
    • Swine Flu
    • Blood Search
    • Vivah
    • Health Directory
    • Alzheimer's Disease
    • Medical Support Groups
    • Cardiology
    • Depression
    • Depression Screening Test
    • Diabetes
    • Disability
    • Kidney
    • Obesity
    • Pregnancy
    • Schizophrenia
    • Vitiligo
Aarogya.com
Marathi | Gujarati | Register | Login
  • Home
  • News and Updates
  • Year 2010
  • Fresh Hope for Brain Tumour Patients in New Treatment

Fresh Hope for Brain Tumour Patients in New Treatment

  • Print
Details
Hits: 6230
Times of India
04 January 2009
By Malathy Iyer
Mumbai, India

Brain Tumor
It’s not terrific news, but it sure does spell hope for a dismal diagnosis. Doctors and researchers are cheering a new finding in the cruel of world of gliomas, considered the most virulent form of brain cancer. While the median survival rate for glioma patients is one year, new medical protocols are ensuring an 11% survival rate of more than five years for patients diagnosed with grade-IV gliomas.

Fifty-nine-year-old Hitesh (name changed) is one of the few lucky ones who was treated using the new protocol at Tata Memorial Hospital in Parel eight years back. Diagnosed with glioma in March 2001, he was the third patient to be put on the new protocol of Temozolomide along with surgery and aggressive radiotherapy.

On Wednesday, Hitesh who teaches at one of the prestigious Indian Institutes of Technology told TOI that apart from the rigours of the disease, he was glad that the treatment had worked well. “Brain tumours leave behind scars that take a toll on people’s faculties,” he said.

But his doctor, neuro-oncologist Rakesh Jalali at Tata Memorial Hospital in Parel, considers Hitesh one of the best examples of the triumph of medicine. “He is cured. In India we can now boast of 11% survival rates, unheard of a few years back,” says the doctor, whose team presented the hospital’s research at the American Society of Clinical Oncology meeting in May 2009. In March 2009, data from a multi-centre European study published in the Lancet Oncology journal showed 9.8% survival rate of over five years for glioma patients.

Indeed, gliomas that usually strike Indians in their 50s (in the West, it strikes people in their mid-60s) are worrisome, say doctors. Consider their biochemistry. Most brain tumours that develop from cancerous glial cells are called gliomas. Unlike other cancers, glioma tumours grow in the confined space inside the head. In order to grow, most cancers push healthy cells aside, but due to space constraints, glioma tumors destroy normal brain cells. They do so by releasing large quantities of the neurotransmitter glutamate that is toxic to neurons and causes seizures in up to 80% of people with gliomas. Depending on the tumour’s size and location, other symptoms could include paralysis, behaviour changes and dizziness. A glioma tumor is particularly damaging because it tends to quickly sprout and spread within the brain.

Neurosurgeon Dr Anandh Balasubramaniam, formerly with Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital, believes a five-year survival rate for glioma patients is indeed a significant development.

Disclaimer: The news story on this page is the copyright of the cited publication. This has been reproduced here for visitors to review, comment on and discuss. This is in keeping with the principle of ‘Fair dealing’ or ‘Fair use’. Visitors may click on the publication name, in the news story, to visit the original article as it appears on the publication’s website.

0
Introducing Digital Practice for Doctors & Healthcare professionals
Swine Flu
National Award for Outstanding achievement by a Non-Professional - Tushar Sampat
Health Professional's Negligence
Health Professional's Negligence
Records of published articles in the newspapers helps common people about precautions to be taken while seeking the services from health professionals and also helps health professionals to rectify the negligence.
read more…
Specialties
Common Symptoms


Aarogya Network

aarogya.com aims to be India’s leading comprehensive health information portal. The site has sections, which cover almost all the medical specialties and give useful information on various diseases. To enhance its reach, the content is available in Indian languages too. We were the first health website to introduce online support groups. Addiction support and Epilepsy support are examples of some very active and vibrant communities.

» Click here to see all our support groups

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

 Get health related new information.

Pune Aarogya
Digital Media Dedicated to Healthcare of Punekars

Health Tools

  • Health Directory
  • Message Board
  • Health Calculators
  • Depression Screening Test

About Aarogya.com

aarogya.com aims to be India’s leading comprehensive health information portal. The site has sections, which cover almost all the medical specialties

Read more...

Suggestions

This is YOUR site, so if you have suggestions or feedback on how we can improve it for you, please let us know! We do our best to keep up!

Read more...

User Comments

“My name is Paulette Conners and I just had to send you an email thanking you since one of the pages on your site was very helpful!”

  • About Us
  • Company Profile
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Feedback
  • Disclaimer
  • Sitemap
  • Invite Your Friends

© 2017 www.aarogya.com. All Rights Reserved.