Cancer Rounds Launched in India to Improve Treatment Outcomes and Quality of Life
Gurugoan, Haryana: Cancer Rounds is a virtual cancer hospital available to patients worldwide. It is the first-ever hospital of its kind providing help to patients suffering from cancer, by being a complete care solution for patients that includes everything from experienced oncologists to dietary counselling with a cancer nutritionist and a psychologist counsellor.
Research studies across various bodies have shown that cancer has become one of the leading causes of deaths in developing nations such as India. According to the National Cancer Registry Programme of the India Council of Medical Research (ICMR), the number of deaths due to cancer is seeing a steady increase every year; with the number of recorded deaths in 2018 at 7,84,821, an increase of 68% from 4,65,169 deaths in 2013. The numbers reflect an urgent need to approach this age-old disease with a new lens, considering more than 11 lakh new cases are diagnosed every year in India alone.
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Sumit Wadhwa - Co-founder, Cancer Rounds |
Cancer Rounds has been founded as a new generation solution to this menace. Comprehensive cancer solutions at all stages to patients in developing countries, through a single destination, is what it provides. Founded by experts from the industry, Cancer Rounds believes that the real cause of high mortality rate is the unavailability of cancer experts and comprehensive care, leading to poor quality of life of the patient, impacting the outcomes of the treatment.
“Even if diagnosed at the right time; patients do not get comprehensive and affordable care due to limited resources and huge gaps in technical expertise,” said its Co-founder Sumit Wadhwa. He added that if every cancer patient gets continuous support from a team of experts including primary oncologist, nutritionist and a counsellor, it can help the patient to stay on course to fight the disease, thus significantly reducing the mortality rate due to cancer.
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Dr. Rahul Bhargava - Director of Bone Marrow Transplant, Fortis Hospital |
Dr. Rahul Bhargava, Director of Bone Marrow Transplant at Fortis Hospital, who is Co-founder and Chief Medical Advisor for Cancer Rounds, has worked on protocols related to cancer treatment so that every patient is treated as per the latest guidelines. He believes that remote monitoring of cancer patients can significantly help patients opt for the best treatment at various stages. Dr. Bhargava said that there are many cancers such as chronic myeloid leukaemia and aplastic anaemia which require frequent monitoring of therapies being given to the patients.
“There is a growing burden of increasing cancer cases and their variations in the form of complications. Most solutions around cancer, offered by traditional healthcare providers, have been limited to one or few aspects of the treatment; and it was needed to combat every stage of this problem in a simpler way through a single window, thus increasing life span of the patients,” said Ashwin Srivastava, serial entrepreneur who joined the board of Cancer Rounds as he is upbeat about the power of such comprehensive treatment strategy using technology. Ashwin drives the global expansion strategy for the start-up and has been an investor-entrepreneur in India, Middle East and West Africa. He added that cancer patients form a significant percentage of medical tourists who come to India, and with Cancer Rounds it will be easier for these patients to talk to the oncologist directly and enrol for remote monitoring.
The next milestone for the team is to add cancer medicine delivery globally, so that the countries where these medicines are not launched yet can benefit from the expertise of the oncologists and avail latest therapy in their home country.
Cancer Rounds covers easy chat and phone calls service across the globe with the latest technologies. Patients from anywhere can speak to Indian doctors in their local language. It deals with almost all kinds of cancers and effective solutions for Prostate Cancer, Lung Cancer, Breast Cancer, Pancreatic Cancer, Colon Cancer, Liver Cancer, Leukaemia Cancer, Non-Hodgkin's Cancer.
Cancer Rounds' core services include hand-holding from an early stage of cancer. It not only focuses on the availability of doctors and medicines, but it cares about the perfect well-being of cancer patients. It also has services like "Second Opinion” that helps a person feel confident of the diagnosis that is being made by his primary cancer physician and thus make an informed decision. Secondly, Cancer Rounds gives a variety of “surgeons and radiations oncologists” to contact during treatment. It is acknowledged by data-backed research that choosing the “right diet” during cancer treatment helps in faster recovery while also countering side effects of therapies such as chemo. Moreover, a professional counsellor is always made available to lift the patients' spirits and guide them to keep their emotional needs in check so that they continue their journey towards remission. Lastly, the Tumour Board, a multidisciplinary team that evaluates each aspect of the patient’s medical care to decide the best treatment options, gives expert advice at any stage of cancer.
It can be said that Cancer Rounds is changing the overall treatment style of cancer and impacting outcomes in the cancer patient's life in a positive way.
