Breast Cancer Surgery Package "Can we Predetermine the Cost"

Diagnosis of Breast cancer is hard enough, without considering the direct and indirect costs associated with breast cancer treatment. Beating your cancer is patient's first priority, but financial worries are often not far behind. Most breast cancer patients fail to understand, why package cost for breast treatment cannot be predetermine.

The answer is simple cost of treating breast cancer can vary from Rs. 1Lac to Rs. 10 Lacs.  Cost Variation depends on the Stage of the Disease (Early / locally advanced / metastatic),Nutritional Status of the Patient, Individual Body and Immune Responses, Other Associated Diseases of any Organ of the Body (heart, lung, liver, kidney, diabetics, high blood pressure etc.), Modality(ies) of treatment required and best suited treatment plan as per National and International guidelines recommended during Tumour Board evaluation.

One has to consider the following scenarios.

Does the Patient require SURGERY?  If yes,

• Whether only lump will be removed / entire breast will be removed?
• Will removal of breast be followed by reconstruction of breast?
• What kind of breast reconstruction is preferred by the patient?
• Will patient require breast prosthesis or not?

Following surgery, will the patient require Chemotherapy? If yes,

• What drugs will be used?
• Will the patient get chemotherapy in day care or will be hospitalization?

The cost will also depend on what kind of chemo drugs are recommended, based on the histology of the tumour. Some chemo drugs have to be imported and are very expensive.

First line of drugs may / may not produce desired results second / third line chemo drugs and targeted therapies are more expensive.

Radiation therapy may / may not be required. If it is required, is the patient mobile to come to hospital on OPD basis. If the patient is immobile additional cost of 6 weeks of hospitalization will be required. Depending on the category of room chosen by the patient, cost will be different for different categories of rooms.

If these patients also have other associated diseases e.g. Diabetes, High Blood Pressure Heart Disease,, Asthma, Bronchitis, Bronchiectasis , Liver Disease, Kidney Disease requiring dialysis or any other disease, the cost of repeated investigations, drugs, disposables minor medical or surgical procedures gets added to the treatment cost.

Patients of stage IV breast cancer do not require surgery (except cosmetic surgery in fungating ulcers of the breast) However, they do require long term supportive chemotherapy. If they do not respond to first line of drugs 2nd or 3rd line of drugs are also tried to control the disease.

In addition to chemotherapy they may need Blood / Blood Component Therapy, Parenteral Nutrition Therapy, Treatment of Metastatic Fractures Rehabilitation of the Patient etc.

In view of the above, patient must undergo a complete diagnostic workup with numerous investigations to confirm the cancer; this is followed by staging work up to find out the stage of the disease. After knowing the stage of the disease and modalities of treatment require done can give the estimated cost of surgery, Radiation, Chemotherapy, Supportive care, rehabilitation etc.

Share:

About the Author

Cancer Hospital India

Author on various topics for Cancer, Radiation Oncology, Allied Services, Healthcare, Hospitals and Health Subjects.   For More information.

Advancement in Stereotactic radiosurgery and Benefits to Cancer Patients in India

Stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) is a form of radiation therapy that focuses high-power energy (X-rays) on a small area of the body. The term radiosurgery is truly a misnomer .It is not a surgical procedure and is rather a technique of radiation therapy.Some patients receive more than one treatment session, but usually no more than five sessions then the process is termed as stereotactic radiotherapy (SRT).and when it is performed for tumours outside skull it is called Stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT)

SRS targets and treats an abnormal area without damaging nearby healthy tissue. SRS is more likely to be recommended for patients who are too high risk for surgery. This may be due to age or other comorbidities. The aim of stereotactic radiosurgery is to destroy target tissue while preserving adjacent normal tissue, where fractionated radiotherapy relies on a different sensitivity of the target and the surrounding normal tissue to the total accumulated radiation dose

SRS is often used to impede the growth of small, deep seated brain tumors that are not amenable to surgery. These includespinal cord tumors,pituitary tumors, acoustic neuromaand brain metastasis. There are many noncancerous conditions which can also be treated with SRS like such as arteriovenous malformations ,Parkinson disease, trigeminal neuralgia and epilepsy

There are many types of radiation therapy machines which can be used to perform radiosurgery namelylinear accelerator, Gamma knife,and Cyberknife. Not all Linear accelerators are competent to perform SRS.The prerequisite is to havemicro multileaf collimators which has a submilimetric precision capability. Inaddition there should be an inbuilt online imaging system to guide the treatment.

Modern stereotactic planning systems are computer based.The stereotactic method has continued to evolve ever since it was first started by Prof Leksell in 1949. At present an elaborate amalgam of image-guided surgery that uses computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging and stereotactic localization is employed.Stereotaxy makes use of a three-dimensional coordinate system to locate small targets inside the body and to performa procedure, a stereotactic planning system, including atlas, multimodality image matching tools, coordinates calculator, a stereotactic device or apparatus and stereotactic localization and placement procedure.

During treatment the patient is on the treatment table with an appropriate immobilisation. The immobilisation includes masks and cushions.The treatment table slides into a machine that delivers radiation: The patient is under constant supervision by means of real time cameras. Patient can also communicate on microphones in case of any discomfort. If need arises then treatment can be interrupted and later resumed.

SRS/SRT where it stands in Indian Scenario: It providesasafe, and minimal invasive and efficacious treatment alternative for patients diagnosed with malignant, benign and functional indications in the brain and spine.Indications include not only to primary and secondary  brain tumours but also meningiomas, schwannomas, pituitary adenomas, arteriovenous malformations, and trigeminal neuralgia.More recent evolution extrapolates the original concept of stereotactic radiosurgery to extra-cranial targets, most notably in the lung, liver, pancreas, and prostate.

If the effectiveness is valued in Indian context Stereotactic radiation therapy techniques are very cost effective as theyensure shortened treatment time and lesser number of visits to the hospital. Since it is an outpatient treatment the cost of hospitalisation further decreases.

Since the availability of state of the art radiation therapy facility is very sparse and mainly confined to metropolitan cities patients have to travel from far flung areas and spend at times many months for availing these facilities. Hypo-fractionation as achieved by SRS and SRT decreases the patient and family members stay for the treatment .The results are rewarding in terms of outcome of the carefully selected patients as all patients may not be the suitable candidates for this form of therapy.

Share:

About the Author

Kanika Sharma

Author on various topics for Cancer, Radiation Oncology ,Allied Services, Healthcare, Hospitals and Health Subjects. For More information.

Breast Cancer Support: Taking Care of the Caretaker

Offering breast cancer support as a caregiver or partner is one of the hardest things there is. For starters, it is almost impossible for one person to manage it all without the help of others. While you are trying to bring your best, you're only human and you should not be afraid to ask for help.

Here are some ways in which you can take care of yourself in order to provide the bestbreast cancer support to your loved one with cancer.

1. Acknowledge how you feel

When someone you know and love is facing a cancer diagnosis, you must know that it is a very emotional time for them and for you too. You may be feeling sad, lonely, helpless, frightened, angry, uncertain and more.  In order to provide the best breast cancer support, you need to first deal with your own emotions. 

There's a lot you can do, but there's also some things that you can't do. This is not a time to feel selfish or guilty for taking time out for yourself. Acknowledge how you feel and find a safe space where you can express your feelings.

2.  Take care of yourself

Be sure that you get enough sleep and that you eat healthy, balanced meals. Exercise at least 3 times every week and be sure to relax as often as you can. If you have medical needs, take your medications and make your doctors' appointments. Do whatever floats your boat, but make sure that you know and take care of the signs of caregiver burnout.

3.  Keep the lines of communication open

As a caregiver, people will turn to you for updates, and you should let them have it. However, you don't need to do it all. If it's too difficult for you to keep veryone in the loop, appoint someone to be the central contact person.

4.  Learn to say no

You're bound to be offered plenty unsolicited advice and help. If you don't need or want it, politely decline and thank the person for his or her concern.

When you're the central figure offering breast cancer support, you should understand that you are valuable to a person's healing. You can help other people to become involved by wearing pink gear and donating funds to the National breast Cancer Foundation.While you are trying to bring your best, you're only human and you should not be afraid to ask for help.

Share:

About the Author

rwwgroup

For more information give us a call at  1800 637 098 or visit our website www.pinkgear.com.au