Chemotherapy duration reduced, claims Paediatrics expert

Jaipur, Oct 7 (UNI) Doctors working on research in treatment of cancer in children, have achieved a breakthrough in shortening the duration of chemotherapy considerably, claims a paediatrics expert.

Making presentation on the research paper at the '33rd Indian Association of Paediatric Surgeons' Conference here yesterday, Dr Sushmita Bhatnagar of Wadia Children's Hospital, Mumbai, said, during her experiments she had managed to reduce the chemotherapy period and got promising results.

''Against the prevailing practice of administering chemotherapy to suffering child for 12 to 18 months, I have shortened the therapy period to 6 to 10 months,'' Dr Bhatnagar said.

The results were promising as the shortening of the therapy duration did not affect the effectiveness of the treatment.

Organiser's spokesman and SMS Medical College, Paediatric Surgery Department's Associate Prof Dr Chetan Sharma said, ''Dr Bhatnagar's work was significant as it would pave way for rendering relief from chemotherapy's side effects related trauma to the patients and from treatment related huge economic burden to the family.'' Dr Sharma said roughly five per cent of the total admissions to the Paediatric surgery wards did suffer from cancers of varied sort--Nephro-blastoma, Neuroblastoma, Soft Tissue Sarcoma, Teratoma and Brain Tumour.

All India Institute of Medical Sciences(AIIMS),Paediatric Surgery Department's Head Dr DK Gupta also presented his paper on new surgery evolved by his department for correction of Oesophageal Atresia, a condition of incomplete development of alimentary canal in suffering child. Dr Gupta presented a simpler and new technique of surgery in which the error is corrected by stretching the stomach for construction of undeveloped portion.

About 450 paediatric surgeons from various places were participating in the four-day conference which had begun in BM Birla Auditorium here on October 4.

UNI