Fighting cancer with advanced imaging technology

Every year, thousands of cancer patients flock from all over the country and neighboring countries to the Tata Memorial Hospital in Mumbai, India's premier cancer treatment institution. They travel miles away from home for reasons such as the absence of treatment facilities closer to where they live, and the quality of care that the hospital provides. The Indian government-funded Tata Memorial is one of the few institutions in India that provides a gamut of quality cancer care end to end and also focuses on prevention, education and research in cancer.

Medical imaging innovation has helped transform modern healthcare. Imaging exams reduce invasive surgeries, unnecessary hospital admissions, lengthy hospital stays and are linked to greater life expectancy. Every day, worldwide, medical imaging leads to earlier diagnoses and better and more targeted treatment. The value of molecular imaging systems like Positron Emission Tomography (PET) imaging is huge in the early detection, staging and monitoring of cancer. More importantly, molecular imaging technology allows doctors to find if treatment is working or not and make informed decisions to treat cancer patients more effectively. However heavy investments required for the imaging system and medical cyclotron needed for FDG (fluorodeoxyglucose, a bio-marker) for the imaging process prevented the growth of this medical innovation in India.

The dawn of the PET era in India dates to September 30, 2002 with the inauguration of the India’s first PET scanner – GE  PETtrace and medical cyclotron at the Radiation Medicine Center at Tata Memorial Hospital.  The healthcare community in India was eagerly waiting to use this new technology for the benefits of cancer patients around the country and in a short time it removed all apprehensions of cancer centres about the economic viability of investing in high cost equipment. Tata Memorial Hospital was again the first one to receive India’s first PET/CT - GE Discovery scanner on December 13, 2004 and it triggered investment in this modern and mature imaging technology.

One of the biggest problems in setting up molecular imaging centres was heavy investment. While a part of the investment goes into acquiring the imaging scanner – PET/CT,  a larger part was needed to set up FDG production on site in order to cater to the patients. Importing of FDG biomarkers meant considerable delays and also led to increase in costs to the patient as well as the institution.

 To help overcome this huge barrier that stood in the way of quality healthcare, GE created a business model that aimed at helping healthcare providers set up diagnostic centres or hospitals with lesser investment. GE Healthcare worked with like-minded professionals to set up medical cyclotrons locally and also with private aviation companies to ensure that FDG could be transported across the country within a couple of hours of production.  Today, this "just-in-time" delivery of FDG using 100% domestic production works like a well-oiled machine.  Today, India has about 112 PET/CT molecular imaging systems functional or under installation in India improving access to cancer detection and care but as a country we are still far behind the required number of 1300 units to address the current level of cancer burden. While business innovation has lead to improved reach of these technologies,  GE Healthcare is working towards a new age PET/CT system in India that can further affordable access to this life saving technology. 

Cancer is one of the leading causes of death in India with 3 people dying every 2 minutes. There are about 2.5 million cancer patients in the country with 1 million getting added every year. There is a chance of incidences of this disease rising five-fold by 2025, prompting the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) to urge the Government of India to make cancer a notifiable disease.  Cancer also puts immense starin on the nation's GDP. According to estimates,Rs 72000 crores have been shaved off the economy due to healthy life years lost.

There is a high probability of treating cancer if detected early – in Stage I or Stage II. However, over 70% of cancer is detected late at a very late stage in India, when treatment is less effective and costly. While low awareness is one significant reason, the other is lack of early cancer detection facilities.

 Availability of imaging technologies such as PET/CT scanner can go a long way in early detection and management of cancer to help people lead a healthier life.