Home-grown tech for cancer care

Seema Singh — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 04:45:00 GMT

India can hardly boast of any biomedical new technology that can withstand global scrutiny. (Of course there could be exceptions).

So now when I learn that Cytotron (a machine for non-invasive treatment of cancer and arthritis), developed by a Bangalore technologist Rajah Vijay Kumar, has been certified by the world's leading and a century-old product safety certification body Underwriters Laboratories, followed by the European regulatory agency's CE certification for popular use, I feel delighted. And to some extent vindicated, as I've followed the team develop this for years, having first written in Newsweek (convincing the editor that it wasn't snake oil), and then in Red Herring.

To see it come this far is very reassuring; in this case, more for cancer care than for anything else. (You can read how it works in my earlier stories.)

The man and the machine: (Though the pix is three years old, but both look pretty much the same).

Kumar has been working on it for over two decades, and needless to say, against many odds and skepticism. His machine is based on Rotational Field Quantum Nuclear Magnetic Resonance which basically alters the voltage difference between the inner and outer cell membrane. Today he holds worldwide patents and expects to install over 1000 machines across the world by 2015. He says approximately 140 terminal cancer patients have undergone treatment so far. (The Indian regulatory agency allows only terminal patients for such experimental trials and hence the outcomes need to be seen in that context. These folks say if certain cancer cases can be taken in the initial stages, cure or survival rates would be much better.)

Of these, the one-year survival rate was 52% while 92% of the patients had improved quality of life, for whatever period they lived, as assessed by accepted quality of life assessment protocols. The technology has a proven track record and 52% of the end stage cancer patients, who were expected to live for a month or two have survived more than a year. The three primary aims we are looking with this technology are arrest cancer growth, stop its spread from organ to organ and provide better quality of life, he says.

Having closely watched some patients (some even cured), I can at least vouch for the quality of life; patients have significantly reduced doses of morphine (or other pain killers), some even going off such drugs altogether.

Given what an uphill task it is to garner money, regulatory support and overall the ecosystem for tech development in this country, hope this device goes from strength to strength. At least the rising cancer cases (20% per year) in the country and world over, can have some palliative care that is cheaper and harmless.

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Cardiac patients: Now no excuse not to exercise

Seema Singh — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 03:49:00 GMT

Millions of heart patients worldwide live with the dilemma - to exercise or not to exercise. These include patients treated with drug or device who still have some problems like breathing difficulties and fatigue, diminished exercise tolerance, reduced quality of life, etc.

Even though existing guidelines recommend exercise training for medically stable patients, there have been concerns about safety and clinical outcomes have remained uncertain.

A new study in today's issue of the Journal of American Medical Association says aerobic exercise training "appears safe for patients with heart failure and was associated with modest reduction in the risk of death and hospitalization, with some improvement in quality of life". (This paper is available free.)

In a randomized trial of 2331 patients, Christopher M. O'Connor of Duke University School of Medicine, North Carolina and colleagues found that after three months, usual care plus exercise training brought modest but statistically significant improvement in the patients.

According to a May 2008 Lancet study, by 2010 60% of the world's heart disease burden is expected to occur in India by which time it is also estimated that some 100 million people in India will suffer from cardiac disorders. In that case, even a modest increase in the overall quality of life will have huge ramifications.

Arthritis is another disease where millions of patients live with a somewhat similar uncertainty - to walk or not to walk (or exercise).

Do you know of other common ailments where the Shakespearean dilemma proves difficult to live with?

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Lab Rats : arthritis

Home-grown tech for cancer care

Cardiac patients: Now no excuse not to exercise