HOD and Consultant, Medical Oncology,Manipal Hospital,Old Airport Road-Bengaluru
Dr. Amit Rauthan, HOD & Consultant – Medical Oncology, Manipal Hospital Old Airport Road, Bengaluru says,
Cancer care is changing rapidly in the past few years. Conventionally, treatment of cancer has been based on surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy. There are now tremendous advances in this field which is making oncologists think differently about cancer. One such major stride forward is precision oncology.
Precision oncology means understanding and identifying the molecular pathways which lead to cancer development, and using this information to treat these cancers. This involves testing tumor tissue for genomic drivers or biomarkers by doing testing called next generation sequencing. After identifying these biomarkers, cancers are treated with appropriate targeted therapies as available.
This modality of treatment is on the rise in Bangalore. There are a lot of companies doing next generation sequencing in Bangalore. Most medical oncologists do molecular testing and use precision oncology for treating cancer patients. This has now become the standard approach for treatment for lung cancer and is also being used in cancers of the colon, bile ducts, ovary, bladder, prostate and breast. Bangalore being a high-tech IT city has brought this approach in the forefront for cancer management.