PGI to be 1st in country to freeze, thaw cancer cells

CHANDIGARH: Post Graduate Institute of Medical Research (commonly known as PGI) will be the only hospital in the country to have a facility that freezes and thaws cancer cells for treatment. This facility is known as cryoablation and microwave to treat cancers, especially of prostate, bone, kidneys and liver.

Dr Sanjay Gupta from world renowned cancer centre MD Anderson in the US is in the institute to train PGI doctors on using the advanced systems. The technique shall be fitted in hybrid angiography-CT room, where a cancer patient simultaneously undergoes CT scan and removal (ablation) of the tumour on the same operation table without additional hospitalisation.

“This facility saves patients’ time. He or she need not to be shifted for CT scan and angiography separately. Often, we are not able to notice more than one nodule during angiography. The patient might be called again for a surgery. However, with this hybrid facility, there is precision of diagnosis and therefore, in one go the tumour can be treated,” said Dr N Khandelwal, head of the radiodiagnosis department.

The hybrid facility reduces hospitalisation cost and gives an accurate tool to surgeons.

“The PGI has almost similar kind of hybrid set-up as it is in MD Anderson. We started using this facility in 2016 for bone, prostate and to some extent kidney cancers,” said Dr Sanjay. He said, “Using these images, target organs (cancer) get chemotherapy which does not kill the healthy tissues or surrounding organs. Therefore, it’s a safe treatment as compared to the conventional treatment.”

The set-up costs around Rs 20 crore. “Tata Memorial Hospital, Mumbai has the hybrid facility and PGI is the second such hospital to have it. But we will be the first to use cryoablation and microwave to treat tumours,” said Dr Khandelwal.

The cost of this hybrid treatment in a private set up is around Rs 15 lakh, while in PGI it will be not more than Rs 2 lakh.

THE FACILITY

The hybrid facility reduces hospitalisation cost and gives an accurate tool to surgeons.

Tumour is treated in one go

The treatment costs around Rs 15 lakh in private hospitals, but PGI may offer it for not more than Rs 2 lakh