Kashmir has only 1 PET-CT scan machine despite steep rise in cancer cases

Srinagar, Feb 13: Despite the increasing number of cancer cases in Kashmir, there is a severe shortage of PET-CT scan machines for staging and assessing treatment responses.

With only one such machine available at SKIMS Soura, patients at Government Medical College (GMC) Srinagar face several challenges in accessing timely and accurate cancer diagnostics.

GMC Srinagar, where around 7000 new cancer cases were registered, is functioning without a PET Scan machine that is used for the detection of cancer and the evaluation of cancer treatment.

The oncologists said that in the modern-day practice of oncology, PET-CT has emerged as a game-changer in the management of cancer but the valley has just a single such machine.

Dr Shabnam, an oncologist, said there is just one PET scan machine available at SKIMS Soura and there is a need for more such machines in Kashmir. Dr Aijaz, another oncologist, said PET scan constitutes a major advancement in the initial diagnosis, evaluation, treatment, prognosis, surveillance, and relapse throughout the disease.

PET-CT is an acronym for Positron Emission Tomography – Computed Tomography, which is nuclear medicine equipment that houses a PET scanner and a CT scanner, to acquire multiple sequential views to create 3D images of the body.

This modality provides a hybrid image formed by the fusion of the functional image of PET and the anatomical image of CT.

The doctors said there is an immediate need for such a facility at GMC Srinagar as cancer cases in Kashmir are on the rise and such patients have no options other than to visit SKIMS, Soura. They said patients had to wait for a long time to get their turn, which was not easy for such patients while some are visiting outside Kashmir for diagnosis and treatment.

The medical experts said that the majority of the patients cannot afford to visit private clinics or those outside Kashmir, thereby delaying their diagnosis and treatment, which is very essential for the treatment of cancer. (KNO)