Kolkata, which reports the highest risk of lung cancers among Indian metros, has just got a first-of-its-kind facility to detect lung cancers early. According to the latest report of National Cancer Registry Programme, the average age of men in the city afflicted with lung cancer is 65 years, while the same for women is 62 years, but experts say that the seed of the disease is embedded and spreads in a patient over several years.
On Monday, a city hospital launched a comprehensive lung nodule evaluation unit that is expected to be a game changer in lung cancer treatment in the region.
“CK Birla Hospitals–CMRI Kolkata has launched a Comprehensive Lung Nodule Evaluation and Advanced Management Clinic to detect, diagnose and treat lung nodules in a new way,” says a statement released by the hospital. Lung cancer often first appears as small, incidental lung nodules. The statement claims that the clinic will bring together “advanced technology, structured clinical pathways and a multidisciplinary team to offer faster, more accurate decision-making for patients”.
Game changer
“This is a game-changer for lung cancer care in India. We can perform navigation, CBCT confirmation, cryobiopsy and EBUS staging in one coordinated procedure, saving the patient weeks of uncertainty,” said Raja Dhar, director and head of the pulmonology department in CMRI Kolkata, to The Plurals on Monday.
CBCT (Cone-Beam Computed Tomography) confirms lung cancer diagnosis and treatment by providing real-time, 3D imaging even reaching tiny tumours; while EBUS (Endobronchial Ultrasound) staging is a crucial, minimally invasive procedure for determining the stage of lung cancer.
“The ability to combine diagnosis and staging in one session not only improves outcomes but reduces complications and speeds up the treatment,” said Dhar, adding that early detection magnifies the possibility of curing the dreaded cancer.
“It is a game-changer as with this technology, we can now safely reach deep, difficult-to-access areas of the lung with navigation technology. This acts like a GPS, guiding us to the nodules that were previously unreachable,” observed Shyam Krishnan, interventional pulmonologist associated with the hospital.
“With this technology, we can detect and diagnose lung cancer at Stage 1, often when the lesion is smaller than 10mm. Historically most lung cancers in our region are detected at Stage 3 or 4, where the 5-year survival rate is very poor,” a doctor associated with the hospital said. “However, if we catch it at Stage 1 using this technology, the survival rate jumps significantly. We are moving from managing the disease to potentially curing it.”
Minimally invasive
The technology in the new clinic will combine Artificial Intelligence (AI)-assisted nodule risk detection, precision navigation systems and real-time confirmation tools, which provide intra-procedural cross-sectional imaging to verify accurate targeting before tissue sampling.
“One of the clinic’s major advancements is the use of transbronchial lung cryobiopsy, a minimally invasive technique that uses controlled freezing to obtain larger and better-quality tissue samples compared to traditional needle biopsies,” reads the hospital statement.
Most patients can undergo the proceedings in a single appointment, which will eliminate delay, a major problem that also affects the patient psychologically, the hospital said.
Kolkata leads
Delhi may be ahead in air pollution index but Kolkata is the leader among Indian metros in when it comes to occurrence of lung cancers, shows a report accessed by The Plurals.
According to the 2022 report of National Cancer Registry Programme, the risk rate of lung cancer among men in Kolkata is one out of 42, followed by one in 47 among men in Delhi and other metro cities. Among lung cancer risk within women, Kolkata stands second only to Hyderabad. Earlier reports of the registry also show Kolkata being among Indian metro cities with the highest number of lung cancer cases.
“Kolkata is one of the Indian cities with the highest lung cancer burden, driven by high smoking prevalence, air pollution and post-infection lung abnormalities. Many lung nodules can be benign; others may either be precancerous or cancers,” observed pulmonologist Arup Haldar, also associated with the hospital.